DICTY0TACEJ5. 59 



Zen aria parvula. Little Zonaria. 



Frond procumbent, membranaceous, variously lobed, 

 spreading over the rock in circular patches, attached by 

 numerous fibres issuing from its lower surface. Fructifica- 

 tion not observed on British specimens. 



Professor Harvey writes : — "This is not an uncommon 

 plant on various parts of our coasts, though frequently 

 overlooked, owing to its hiding in crevices, or creeping 

 through the much-branched, stony Nullipores." 



Genus XVIII. TAONIA. 



Root covered with woolly fibres. Frond flat, ribless, net- 

 worked, irregularly cleft, the surface cellules equally distant, 

 those in the ultimate divisions of the frond in parallel or 

 only Slightly divergent series. Fructification in wavy con- 

 centric lines on both surfaces of the frond. — Taoistia, from 

 the Greek taon, a peacock. 



In the f Phycologia Britannica/ T. atomaria is included 

 in the genus Dictyota, but in his subsequent works 

 Professor Harvey has adopted the name Taonia. In his 

 ' Nereis Boreali- Americana/ he speaks of this genus 

 as formed for the reception of the old Viva atomaria, 

 which has been variously referred to Zonaria, Dictyota, 

 and Padina- and we will therefore hope that at last this 

 much-vexed plant has found a local habitation and a 

 permanent name. 



Taonia atomaria. Banded Taonia. 



Fronds from four inches to a foot high, and from half an 

 inch to three inches wide, growing in clusters. Fructifica- 

 tion arranged in wavy bands across the frond. 



This fine species is found in several localities on the 



