Tin: MA KINK ALG.E OF NKW ENGLAND. 175 



Var. FUCOIDES, A-.: IMiyc. lirit.. PI. J77. 



rromls robust and naked below, upper branches pectinate or coryni- 

 ]>ose, artii'ulations l>ut slightly lon«ier than broad. 



Var. AFi'iNis, A«,^; Phyc. lirit., IM. .io:}. 



Fronds elonjifated. ditVusfly l)ranchin^, branches distant, undivided 

 below, densely i>iiniatc at the tii», articulations two or three times as 

 long as broad. 



lu tide-pools and below low-water mark on stones and al<:ie. 



Common along the whole coast. 



One of our commonest and least beautiful species, which, although very variable, is 

 generally easily recognized. In the Nereis, Harvey describes seven forms found on 

 our eastern coast. Practically, the species as found with us is recognized under two 

 principal forms. The fii-st is rather robust, nud has branches which are more or less 

 pectinate or corymbose, and in the extreme forms, as var. Durked, Harv., 1. c., PI. 17 c, 

 they are compressed, and the pinnte are distichous and abbreviated. The second fonu 

 of the species is represented by the P. ajfinis of the Phycologia Britannica, in which 

 the main bramhes are much elongated and more delicate than in var. fticoUh)*, and the 

 ultimate divisions are arranged in pyramidal tufts. Between the two types described 

 occur innumerable forms which hardly require a further description. 



r. FASTIGIATA, Grev.; rhyc. Brit., V\. 200. 



Fronds dark bro^^^l, forming globose tufts one to three inches in 

 diameter, filaments rigid, of nearly the same diameter throughout, re- 

 peatedly dichotomous, fastigiate, apices subulate, spreading, occasion- 

 ally forcipate, siphons averaging about 20, articulations decidedly broader 

 than long; autheridia oval, in dense terminal tufts; cystocarps ovate, 

 taking the place of a terminal dichotomy. 



On Ascophyllum nodosum. 



Common from Xew York northward ; Europe. 



A very common species, at once recognized by its form and place of growth. It 

 lorms tufts on Fucits (AscojthyUum) nodonus and, according to Harvey, on F. vesiculosus. 

 Its color is so dark that one at first sight would hardly suppose it to bo one of the 

 Florideop. The filaments are rigid, and the plant does not collapse in the least when 

 removed from the water, nor does it adhere to paper in drying. The autheridia 

 are very abundant early in the season. The species, like most of the geuus found on 

 our coast, is dicpcious, but occasi«mally one finds both sexes on the same individual. 

 In this connection, it would be well to inquire if there is not a proterandrous condi- 

 lon among the Floridccp, as in the higher plants. It has seemed to us that such a 

 ondition may exist in P. variegata, and possibly in the present species. P. fastigiata 

 ^ said to have been collected in California, but the locality is doubtful. It has been 

 lound also in Australia and New Zealand. 



BOSTKYCllIA, Mont. 

 (From fSooTpvxiov, a small curl.) 

 Fronds dark purple, compressed or filiform, distichously or irregu- 

 larly branching, composed of several (4-11) cells (siphons) arranged 

 around a central filament, the sii)hons either naked or corticated with 

 subcubical cells, apices usually monosii)honous ; tetraspores tripartite, 



