THE MARINE ALG.E OF NEW ENGLAND. 61 



Suborder PILEOSPOUK.E. 



Kopiodiii'tioii by moans of olive-brown zoospores which Iiavc two 

 laterally atta- heil eilia; sporangia of two kinds — nnilocnlar, containing 

 a large niiinberof zoospores, and pbirilocnlar, eonipound s[)orangia, each 

 cell of which eontains a single zoospore; eonjngation of zoospores known 

 in a few species; marine plants, of an olive-brown color, whose fronds 

 vary greatly in structure, but which all agree in rei)roducing by zoospores. 



A \aTff€! {jroiip, first correctly dofmod by Tliurot. Previous writers had rc«>;ardod the 

 structure of the frond to the exclusion of the organs of reproduction, and the species 

 liere inchuU'd were placed iu different orders. In the Nereis they were phiced partly 

 in the Didi/otacvir, Sporochnacea', Laminanacew, Chordariaccce, and Eciocarpacea;. Tho 

 fiuir last ordei-s have been kept as families, but the true Dictyotaccw are a distinct order. 

 All Ihe olive-brown sea- weeds of New England, except tho rock-wee«ls, belonjjj to tho 

 present suborder. In no order of plants do the species vary so widely in habit as in 

 the present. A larj^e number, a.s the Ectocarpi, are filamentous aiul resemble in habit 

 the Cladophora: The LamiiKirUv have expanded Hat fronds, and in Macroci/stis and 

 Egregia, the most hifjhly orj^anized of the order, there are stems, di^^inct leaves, an<l 

 air-bladders, an«l in Egregia special fructiferous leallets. Many of tho species are of 

 microscopic size, but Alucrocystis grows to bo several huudre<l feet long. 



SPH.ENOSIPHON, Reinsch. 

 (From acprjv, a wedge, and at<^uv, a tube.) 



Fronds formed of single cells placed side by side so as to form a more or less cohe- 

 rent mass; cells pyriform-cuneate or oblong-elliptical ; contents of cells transformed 

 into a number of very small spherical bodies (zoospores?). 



In the Contribntiones ad Algologiam et Fungologiam, Reinsch places tho genus 

 Sphwnosiphon , of which he descril>es nine species, in tho order Melanophgcece. One of 

 the species occurs in fresh water and tho rest are marine. They all form minute spots 

 on other algje, and consist simply of cells placed side by side, tho whole forming a thin 

 membranous expansion. If the small bodies described and lignred by Reinsch in tho 

 interior of the cells are really zoospores, and if tho cells themselves are olive-brown, 

 we must regard the geniis Sphwnosiphon as tho lowest of the Ph(vo»pore<v. The develop- 

 ment of the zoospores has not been observed, and as Reinsch describes the color of 

 some of tho species as bluish green and rose-colored, wo must consider the position 

 of the genus to bo in doubt. Species of Sphccnosiphon are not unfrequcnt on our coast, 

 but they have not yet been sufliciently studied. Those which wo have seen are more 

 like the Cganophycefv i\i^is. tho Phoiosporcx in color. Tho following descriptions, which 

 may applj* to some of our species, are taken from Reinsch, 1. c. 



8. SM.vRAdDixus, Reinsch, 1. c, PI. 35, Fig. 4. 



Cells pyriform or broadly cuneiform, rounded at the ap<'x, prolonged at the baso 

 into a hyaline pedicel; cells .Oir>.-<-:i3:{""" long, .OO-^l-ll'i""" broad at apex, .002""" at 

 base; color bluish green ; base hyaline. 



< )n Plifcaminm roccineitm, Labrador. 



On rolysiphonia, Anticosti. 



S. OLIVACEI'S, Reinsch, 1. c., PI. :?('., Fig. 2 a. 



Cells pyriform or cuneiform, broadly roundctl at apex, coiitractrd :it base : color 

 olivc-grcen; cells .013-24'""' long, breadth .(KH)G-1G8""". 



Ou Ceramium ruhntm, Anticosti and Labratlor. 



"^. ROSEUS, Reinsch. 



Cells broadly ellipsoidal, placed loosely together, an<l surroiunltil l>y a thick hyaline 

 mucus; ro9e-c(dored : . 004 1-ijO""" long, .fKM-a""" broad. 



On zoophytes, Labrador. 



