Tin: MARINE ALG.E OF NEW ENGLAND. 71 



other alj^a*. It is <listin<j:Mish<><l iVnin our other sjH'cit's l>y tlu» short, hroad, atul sossilo 

 sporuuj^ia. In the type the branohiiij; is oppjjsite and eoiupact, and the corticatin^ 

 lilaiiieuts arc sonietiines so niiinerous, especially in the Newjxirt spj'cimens, as to le;wl 

 Mie to ailmit the validity of Kiitzin<;'H gonus Corticularia. Uiit in other cases tho cor- 

 licatiu*; lilanients are few in number. 



E. CONFKIIVOIDES, (Rotll) Lo Jolis. {Ector'trfHis silirtilosiis, Pliyc. 

 r.rit., PI. UV2; Xer. Am. Bor., Vol. I, p. i:\\).) 



Filanu'iits eivct, two to twenty inches lon«i:, loosely entangled at the 

 ba.se, l)ee;):nin:jf tree and feathery above; branelies alternate or seeund, 

 gradually taiierin:;; calls of larger branches .Ot-,>"" in diameter; pUiri- 

 loeular sporangia ovate-acute or acuminate, sessile or stalked, sometimes 

 rostrate average size of sporangia .OU.j-lO " broad by .15-40'"'" long; 

 unilocular si);.ra!igia oval or ellipsoidal, .023-30'"'" broad by .035-50'"'" 

 long. 



a, var. SILICULOSUS, Kjellmau. {Ecfoairpiis viridis^ Ilarv., Ner. Am. 

 r>or., Vol I, p. UO, n. lli b and c.) 



Plurilocular sporangia subulate or linear-subulate, sessile or sub- 

 sessile, freciuently rostrate. 



(?, var. uiEMALi.s, Kjellmau. {Ectocarpm hiemalis, Crouan.) 



PluriloLMilar sporangia elongated, conical or subacuminate, .OS-lo™"" 

 long by .02-3'"'" broad, generally rostrate. 



Very common on algic and wood work along the whole coast. 



Var. a, most common south of Cape Cod. 



Var. (^, Wood's Uoll, Mass. ? 



The larijest, most variable, and most common summer species of our coast, and 

 found in n»'arly all parts of the world. It has been subdivitled by KiitziuLj into a 

 large number of species, which are scarcely to be recognized from his descriptions 

 and plates. Formerly some of the ditferent forms of E. littoralis were referred to 

 the present species, but the true E. littoralis is now recognized as belonging to tho 

 subgenus VylaicUa. Those interested in tracing the synonymy of E. confrrvoidcs 

 shouhl consult Kjellman's Bidrag till Kiinnedomen om Skandiuaviens Ectocarjieer 

 • h Tilopterider, Stockholm, 1872. As seen on our own coast, what we have called tho 

 lypical E. confervoules forms tufts of indefinite extent on wharves, and especially on 

 the larger algJB, varying in length from a few inches to a foot and a half hmg. It 

 frequently fringes the fronds of Chorda filum with its soft, silky tufts. In the typo 

 the plurilocular sporangia, which are much more commcm than the unilocular, aro 

 ovate-acuminate, an<l only occasionally rostrate. In the variety siliculosits the pluri 

 locular sporangia are long and comparatively very narrow. The variety hicmolis is 

 foun«l in the winter and sjiring, and has plurilocular sporangia, which are almost 

 always rostrate and somewhat cylindrical in fonn, so that they may be said to resem- 

 ble those of the sul»genus Pijlawlla. The color of the present species when growing 

 js a light brown approaehing yellowish, which in drying often turns to a yellowish- 

 green, especially in tho variety HiliculoHun, of which herbarium specimens might bo 

 nustaken for Cladophonr. Tho winter forms are deeper brown than those found in 

 summer. E. amphihius, mentioned in the supplement to the Nereis as occurring near 

 New York in brackish water, is a fonn of the present species. 



