THE MARINE BOTANIST. 155 



DELESSERIACE^.— DELESSERIA TRIBE. 



Rosy, purplish-red or blood -red sea-weeds, with 

 a leafy, or rarely filiform, areolated, inarticulate 

 frond, composed of polygonal cells. Leaves deli- 

 cately membranaceous. Fructification double ^ 

 1. Conceptacles {coccidice), external, or partly 

 immersed, containing spores; 2. Tetrasporesy in 

 distinctly defined soriy either scattered through 

 the frond or placed in proper fruit-leaflets or 

 sporophylla. 



This, though a small, is a strikingly beautiful 

 tribe ; containing the Delesseria, with perfect leaf- 

 like fronds of a rose-red colour, and the paler and 

 more dehcate Nitophylla, 



" How their blushes speak 

 Of rosy hues that bright o'er ocean break, 

 When cloudy morn is calm, yet fain to weep, 

 Because the beautiful is still the frail." 



Fortunately for the botanist, though they soon 

 lose their colour when exposed to the sun and air. 



