The Gemis Phyllospadix 405 



and environment of the genus in relation to its probable ori- 

 gin, I will dismiss, for the present, the question of the species 

 with the following remarks : The two species of the California 

 coast have been collected about Monterey Bay, and somewhat 

 carefully examined together with dried material collected 

 along the coast from Oregon to Santa Barbara. They are 

 closely allied forms, although it will be convenient to refer to 

 them as distinct species. Phyllospadix Scouleri, described as 

 early as 1840 by the elder Hooker from Scouler's specimens 

 from the Columbia River, inclines to bolder shores, has a 

 flatter leaf, often but not always a much shorter stem, with 

 one spathe (occasionally several), and usually larger fruits 

 than Ph. Torreyi, Watson. The statement that the leaf is 

 broader does not always hold, and three nerves are present in 

 both, instead of only in Ph. Scouleri, as is usually stated. 

 They are more obscure in Ph. Torreyi on account of the 

 leathery texture of the latter, thrice as thick as in the sister 

 species. The very doubtful Ph. serrulatus, Rup., I have not 

 seen, and nothing seems to be known of it beyond the frag- 

 ment on which Ruprecht based his description. 



What follows concerning the morphology and structure of 

 the genus relates to Ph. Torreyi, reference being made to the 

 second species by especial mention. 



Phyllospadix growsattached to rocks, or to a rocky substra- 

 tum covered with a few inches of sand, in distinct turfs or flat 

 tussocks usually, each being from one-fourth to one-half a 

 meter ni diameter, and composed of branched, rooting rhizomas 

 giving rise to the long leaves among which are concealed the 

 much shorter spathe-bearing stems. It is not often seen extend- 

 ing more than one or two fathoms beyond low-tide. At very 

 low water a fringe of plants along the upper margin of the belt 

 is often left completely exposed, but ordinarily the plants are 

 not left quite bare. They cling by means of short, firm roots 

 and the under-surface of the somewhat interwoven rhizomas, 

 to hard surfaces, somewhat after the manner of the larger 

 Algae ; and although the stems and leafy branches break away, 

 the rhizomas seldom loosen their hold except with age. 



The rhizoma and the arrangement of its dependent mem- 



