94 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AXD FISHERIES. 



Var. CAPERATA, (De la Pyl.)- [L. caperata, Ann. Sci., 1. c, PL 9 c.) 

 Stipe long in proportion to the lamina ; lamina thick, one to two feet 



broad, cuneate at base. 



Common on stones at low- water mark along the whole coast; var. 



capcrata common north of Cape Cod. 



In the iiresent species we include all the New England forms which have a solid 

 stii^e and undivided lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate frond. It is very probable that 

 two, or possibly three, really distinct species are thus united, and it is also doubtful 

 whether any of our forms are the same as L. saccliarina of Europe, as limited by recent 

 writers. Clearly to distinguish them is, however, at present out of the question. In 

 going northward the forms here included become broader, and the base of the lamina 

 is more frequently obtuse, and possibly the extreme forms should be referred to 

 L. latifoUa, Ag. The exact determination of the New England forms referred to 

 L. saccliarina cannot be successfully undertaken without an examination of European 

 herbaria. Probably we have most of the forms described by De la Pylaie in the 

 Flore de Terre-Neuve, but that writer has not displayed a commendable caution in 

 the description of new species ; and as European botanists differ as to what species 

 the forms of De la Pylaie are to be referred, American botanists would not help the 

 matter by pretending to give accurate determinations. De la Pylaie says that at 

 Newfoundand L. saccharina does not occur, but is replaced by L. longicruris. The 

 statement is singular, since, from De la Pylaie's own description, L. capcrata closely 

 resembles L. saccharina ; and if any species may be said to replace L. saccliarina, it is 

 L. capcrata, rather than the abundantly distinct L. longicruris. 



L. DiaiTATA, (Turn.) Lamx. {L, digitata, Ner. Am. Bor. — L. steno- 

 loba, De la Pyl., Ann. Sci. Nat., 1. c, PI. 9 Ic.) 



Exs. — Algse Am. Bor., Farlow, Anderson & Eaton, Xo. 119, sub. 

 nom. L. flexicaulls. 



Fronds attached by fibers, which are often arranged in whorls ; stipe 

 solid, stout, one to five feet long, more or less round below, compressed 

 above, destitute of muciparous glands ) lamina at first oval or lanceolate, 

 afterwards split into digitate segments, two to six feet long, one to 

 three feet wide j base fusiform or ovate ; fruit in dispersed patches on the 

 segments. 



Montauk, L. I. ) Gay Head, Mass. j and common north of Cape Cod. 



With regard to the limits of L. digitata a difference of opinion prevails ; and in the 

 present case we have retained, without criticism, the older name to designate the, 

 common digitate form of our coast. Of the two species described by Le Johs it is 

 probable that we have L. flexicaulis comprehended in the present form. The species 

 is common with us in pools at low- water mark and below. The stipe varies consid- 

 erably in length, according to the place of growth, and when well developed is stout 

 and much compressed above, so that it projects rigidly above the surface of the water 

 at low tide. The lamina is usually more or less fusiform at the base, but is sometimes 

 oval, and the segments vary considerably, sometimes being very numerous. 



L. PLATYMERis, De la Pyl., Ann. Sci. Xat., 1. c. PI. 9 i. 

 Fronds attached by stout, irregularly placed fibers j stipe six inches to 

 a foot long, solid, roundish, compressed, provided with muciparous 



