SPH^-ROCOCCOIDE^. 147 



pressed at the top, and spread abundantly over the frond ; 

 tetraspores tripartite, scattered over the whole frond. 



This species is annual, and grows, during autumn, 

 on rocks or mud at and beyond low-water mark. When 

 freshly gathered, the fronds are tender and very brittle, 

 but they become tough in drying, and adhere closely to 

 paper. They are of a dull purple colour, changing to 

 green on exposure to the air and fresh water. Speci- 

 mens have been found in several places on the coast of 

 Devonshire, but this must still rank as one of the most 

 rare of our native Sea-weeds. 



Gracilaria compressa. The compressed Gra- 

 cilaria. 



Frond from six to twelve inches long, of a pale pink 

 colour, very brittle, alternately or almost forkedly branched ; 

 branches long, mostly simple, tapering to a fine point. 

 Spores minute, at the tips of threads, radiating from a cen- 

 tral point in prominent, egg-shaped, stalkless conceptacles ; 

 tetraspores roundish, tripartite, irregularly dispersed among 

 the surface cells. 



This species is also rare, and there are but few re- 

 corded habitats. It grows on corallines, in deep water, 

 during summer, and is annual. My specimens were 

 found amongst rejectamenta at Swanage, a neighbour- 

 hood where many rare Sea- weeds are to be obtained. 



Gracilaria confervoid.es. The conferva-like 

 Gracilaria. 



Fronds cvlindrical, cartilaginous, rising one or several 

 from the same base, varying from three to twenty inches in 

 length ; branches long, thread-like, nearly simple, attenuate ; 



l2 



