THE HALE-TIDE POOL. 65 



frequently found in our tide-pools. It is from three 

 to six inches high ; the stem as thick as small twine 

 or packthread; of the colour of isinglass ; but the outer 

 coats of the branches and their segments have a beau- 

 tiful pink colour ; indeed, when seen in deep water, 

 the whole plant is a rich red. The ramuli are short, 

 wedge-shaped, and blunt, with tetraspores thickly 

 sown in them, or bearing ceramidia ; but these are 

 rare, and instead of them we frequently find those 

 curious cup-shaped bodies full of yellow filaments 

 called antlieridia. This pretty little specimen grows 

 on Fucus Serratus, Corallina Officinalis, Chondrus 

 Crispus and Folysiplionia. 



HYP^EA PUKPUBESCENS. 



(Xame an alteration of Hypnum, the name of a genus of mosses, in 

 allusion to the moss-like appearance of this seaweed.) 



This is one of our commonest plants, growing in dense 

 masses on the side of our pools, from six inches to two 

 feet long. The spreading branches, mingling with the 

 more rugged fronds of Fucus or Chondrus Crispus, is 

 a shelter for the Prawn and the tiny Crab or timid 

 tiny fish. It floats out laden with fruit, berries, or 

 tubercles called coccidia, immersed in the ramuli. 



The colour is dull purple ; dries nearly black ; does 

 not adhere well to paper. 



Generic character. — Erond thread-like, cartilagi- 

 nous, much branched, cellular. Cut across the stem, 

 it shows large cells in the centre surrounded by a net- 

 work of smaller ones. 



Fructification. — Coccidia or berries and tetraspore3. 



