178 SEA MOSSES. 



idea of the plant than can be conveyed by any words. 

 It has one unmistakable mark which will distinguish 

 it from every other member of the family, viz. : the 

 fact that all the parts and lobes are armed along 

 their edges with sharp, forward-pointing teeth. In 

 all the older parts, a midrib is very distinctly seen, 

 which loses itself at last near the middle, or toward 

 the younger parts of the frond. My largest specimens 

 are eight inches in lateral spread, and something less 

 in height ; color, a dull or brownish red. It is common 

 along the whole coast, and at Santa Barbara, it is 

 reported growing in deep water near the wharf, and 

 on large rocks at low-tide, and at San Diego, in deep 

 water, from November to April. 



NiTOPHYLLUM RUPRECHTEANUM, AG. 



This is a fine, large and well marked species. 

 Starting from a narrow stem, it soon expands into a 

 repeatedly forking, widely spreading frond from one 

 to two feet long. The strap-like lobes of the frond 

 are from half an inch to one inch wide, of various 

 lengths, of nearly parallel edges, rounded and often 

 cleft at the top. The edges of all the older parts of 

 the frond, and of any old breaks in it, are bordered 

 with a fringe of minute leaflets, not more than one- 

 eighth of an inch long. Sometimes these extend over 



