112 HANDY BOOK OP 



sure of the waves, and have numerous excavations that 

 remain full of water at ebb-tide, are hence the favourite 

 residence of the majority of marine plants, while the shores 

 consisting of loose sand are equally as barren as the Arabian 

 desert. But even on sandy coasts, large submarine meadows 

 are sometimes found. The Zoster a marina (Grasswrack), 

 the only phanerogamic or flower-bearing plant of the German 

 Ocean, is admirably adapted to attach itself to loose sand, 

 through its trailing stalk, from whose knots or joints long 

 roots grow out. The long grassy leaves, of a bright green 

 and silky lustre, which move freely in the water, afford food 

 and protection to countless animalcules and plants. In the 

 tropical sea, the sea-grass is eaten by the turtles ; and, in 

 the North of Europe, it is used for making cheap mattresses. 

 Large quantities are exported to England from Ostend for 

 this purpose. 



The Algae are divided into three large groups — the green 

 (Chlorospermece), the olive- coloured (Melanospermecs), and 

 the red .(Rhodospermece\ which are subdivided again into a 

 number of families, genera, and species. On the British 

 coast alone, there are some 370 species, belonging to 105 

 different genera; so that an idea may be formed from this 

 of the richness of the Ocean botany. Thousands are already 

 known ; but of a surety as many again are waiting for 

 their botanic name, and have never yet been gazed on by a 

 human eye. 



The Chlorosperms, or green sea -weeds, are found most 

 frequently near high-water mark, and love to lead an 

 amphibious life, half in the air, half under water. To them 

 belong the silky Enteromorphse and ribbony Ulvae, which, 

 at Suitable spots, cover the coast rocks with the most vivid 

 green. Yery remarkable, too, is the wide geographical 

 extension of these genera. The TJlva latissima (sea -lettuce), 

 and Enteromorpha compressa (sea-grass) of our coast, grow 

 on the desolate shores of the Arctic Ocean, skirt the Tropical 

 Ocean, and extend southwarcUto Cape Horn. But few plants 



