240 SEA MOSSES. 



under a pocket lens, by alternate bands of lighter 

 and darker color, sometimes white and black, some,- 

 times white and red, and sometimes two shades of 

 red. This characteristic never fails, except sometimes 

 in the older parts of very robust specimens of C. 

 rubrum. 



Ceramium rubrum,* Ag. 



This plant is common, not only throughout our 

 entire eastern and western coasts, but in almost every 

 sea upon the globe. I doubt if there is another so 

 thorough-going cosmopolite, in the whole marine flora 

 of the world. 



It grows upon everything, rocks, and stones, and 

 shells, and almost all sorts of sea plants. This abil- 

 ity to be on a good footing with every kind of com- 

 panionship, and to feel at home wherever it can find 

 a place to stand, and sprout, and grow, will account, 

 perhaps, for its universal presence and its wide distri- 

 bution. 



It grows in pools, between tides, and in deep 

 water. It is extremely variable in appearance, and 

 will sometimes almost "deceive the very elect," into 

 believing they have found some other species. It 

 grows from two to ten inches high, thicker than a 



* Rubrum := Red. 



