114 BRITISH SEA- WEEDS. 



the very small size of the plant, combine to render it 

 even more rare than the real scarcity of specimens 

 warrants. The name ocellata has reference to the 

 spots caused by the density of the branchlets at the 

 tips of the fronds, which are supposed to resemble the 

 eyes in the tail-feathers of a peacock. 



Dasya arbuscula. The Shrub Dasya. 



Root a small disc. Fronds from one to four inches high ; 

 stems much and irregularly branched, thickly set with short, 

 forked branchlets ; articulations about twice as long as 

 broad. Spore-conceptacles roundish, with suddenly taper- 

 ing, long, cylindrical necks, and short stalks ; tetraspores in 

 oblong, dagger-tipped stichidia; both the conceptacles and 

 stichidia grow on the branchlets. 



This species is annual, and to be found in sum- 

 mer. It is entitled to be considered one of the beauties 

 of our marine flora, and is moderately abundant in the 

 Channel Islands, and in some parts of Ireland and Scot- 

 land, but is rare in England. The most robust speci- 

 mens grow on rocks at extreme low-water mark; those 

 which are dredged in deep water are more slender, and 

 less densely set with branchlets. The difference be- 

 tween extreme specimens of the two forms is so great as 

 to induce the belief that they must be distinct species ; 

 but a careful examination of the intermediate varieties 

 will prove that such is not the case. In this species, 

 also, the branchlets become more dense at the tips of 

 the frond, where they form little eye-like dots, or tufts. 



Dasya venusta. The beautiful Dasya. 



Eoot a small disc. Eronds two to four inches long, grow- 



