98 FLOWERLESS PLANTS 



tualty escape into the water in the form of 

 Uttle bodies (zoospores) which, by means of 

 certain long hairs, move about in the water 

 with the greatest activity. These bodies, small 

 as they are, vary considerably in size in some 

 of the green seaweeds, and their real character 

 is not in every case fully understood. It is 

 generally believed that after a journey, which 

 may carry them to a considerable distance, 

 the zoospores in the case of the Sea Lettuces 

 settle down upon the sea bottom and start the 

 formation of new cell walls. The extension of 

 cellular tissue then goes forward, with the 

 result that at last a new plant is formed. 

 There are indications of other reproductive 

 schemes in the case of the Ulvas. 



It would be difficult indeed to suggest any 

 portion of our coastline on which some of 

 the many species of Fucus could not be found. 

 These plants may be taken as tj'pical of the 

 brown seaweeds, and, on account of the ease 

 with which specimens can be secured, it may 

 be weU to deal with them in the first instance. 

 Most of the Fiici are of a brown or a yellow 

 brown colour, and in nearly all cases they dis- 

 play a well-defined shoot, often much branched. 



