130 THE MARINE BOTANIST. 



to twelve inches high, with pinnatifid or twice 

 pinnatifid branches. In a very common variety, /3 

 osmunday the frond is undivided, flat, and with 

 short, many-tipped ramuH ; in the variety found in 

 Devon and Cornwall, y temiissima, the frond is 

 also flat, but the ramuli are very thin, and 

 much branched, branches widely spreading*. Sub- 

 stance cartilaginous, but soon decomposing* t)n 

 exposure to the air, and then the smell of this 

 plant is often peculiarly offensive. Colour vary- 

 ing from a yellowish green to a dull dark 

 purple, fading in the air to a pale lilac. Cera- 

 midia broadly ovate, placed on the smaller 

 branches. Tetraspores imbedded in the ramuli. 

 Grows on rocks, &c., between tide-marks. Annual. 

 June to December. Very common. It has been 

 called the '' Pepper Dulse," in Scotland, owing to 

 its biting and aromatic flavour. 



