LOW- WATER MARK. 89 



collector having once well learnt tHe structure of the 

 plant and its form of fructification, will easily recog- 

 nize rarer species, and use more scientific books than 

 this. We must now mention a common but very 

 pretty seaweed for the album. 



DELESSERIA TEIBE. 



(Named in honour of Mons. Delessert, a French naturalist and 

 botanist.) 



This is a strikingly beautiful tribe ; contains three 

 kinds of red seaweed that all collectors seek with 

 avidity, and return home with some disgust if they 

 find neither Delesseria, Nitopliyllum, nor Flocamium 

 in the bag or tin can. 



Erond rose-red, flat, membranaceous, with a mid-rib. 



Fructification. — Two kinds on distinct individuals. 

 1. Hemispherical tubercles (called coccidia), mostly 

 on the mid-rib, containing a tuft of filaments bearing 

 spores. 2. Tetraspores forming definite spots in the 

 frond, or in distinct leaf-like processes. 



Delesseria Sakgtjinea (Eed Bock-leaved Deles- 

 seria). — This is a great prize. Look under the masses 

 of Fucus at extreme low-water mark : you must not 

 fear wetting your feet, if you want either this or good 

 Flocamium : wade into the sea, and seek them in the 

 shadow of a rock under water; there you will pro- 

 bably find these beautiful blood-red leaves, veined 

 like a chestnut leaf, and varying in size from three 

 to ten inches. In summer the leaves are large with 



