RHODOMELACEjE. 115 



ing singly or several together; stem running through the 

 frond, thick, cylindrical, when dry, flat ; branches irregu- 

 larly alternate, pinnate, or bipinnate ; branchlets repeatedly 

 forked, jointed, slender, tapering to extreme tenuity at the 

 tips; articulations many times longer than broad. Spore- 

 conceptacles inverted-pear-shaped, with short, broad necks, 

 and short stalks ; tetraspores in lanceolate, acuminate, 

 short-stalked stichidia. 



This plant well deserves the specific name of Beau- 

 tiful, given to it by Dr. Harvey ; for its bright rose- 

 coloured fronds, with their graceful forms and delicate 

 texture, do not yield the palm of loveliness to any mem- 

 ber of this favoured family. It was first found in Jersey 

 about twenty years since, and has subsequently proved 

 to be moderately abundant on the shores of that island, 

 but has not, so far as I am aware, been discovered in 

 any other locality. This fact raises the question whe- 

 ther plants from the Channel Islands are entitled to be 

 included in the list of British Sea-weeds. Dr. Harvey 

 evidently considers that they are, for he has recorded 

 Jersey habitats for a large proportion of the species de- 

 scribed in his f Phycologia/ and in my humble opinion 

 he is quite right. Indeed I cannot bear to think of the 

 many vacant spaces that there would be in my own col- 

 lection were I to withdraw all the Channel Islands spe- 

 cimens. These islands have belonged, uninterruptedly, 

 to the British Crown from the time of the Norman con- 

 quest to the present day, so that politically they are, 

 without doubt, thoroughly English. Geographically, 

 their claim is not so strong ; but there is so little dif- 

 ference between the flora of our own country and that 

 of the northern part of France, that this part of the 

 question is not important. There are very few sea- 



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