of eight or ten feet, while its circumference seldom exceeds four inches. It is 

 so flexible as to lie prostrate on the rocks ; has a smooth polished surface, and no 

 bark that can be separated, at least easily ; colour very dark brown or black ; 

 rarely hurt by any parasitical plant : the top is considerably flattened some time 

 before it expands into the frond, and the lower end tastes sweet, and is much 

 eaten by some people. 



" Frond. The frond of the Cuvy is thicker, shorter, and the segments more nu- 

 merous and clustered, than in the Tangle. That of the Cuvy swells into blisters 

 by steeping in fresh water, while the frond of the Tangle bleaches white ; but the 

 great distinction in this part, and the one which makes this plant so valuable, 

 is, that the Cuvy annually throws off the old leaf, and acquires a new one, while 

 this has never been observed in the Tangle." [Here follows an account of the 

 shedding of the old fronds ; the history then proceeds.] " The situations in which 

 the two plants grow are also very different ; the Cuvy growing so far out in the 

 sea that the highest limit can only be ajoproached at the lowest stream tides, 

 and from this it runs into the ocean, as far as the eye can penetrate, and pro- 

 bably much farther ; while the Tangle may be approached at ordinary tides, 

 and forms a belt between the Cuvy and the beach. The general aspect also 

 differs. The stems of the Cuvy stand up like a parcel of- sticks, and the leaves 

 wave from them like little flags ; while the Tangles lie prostrate on the rocks, 

 the leaves mingle together, and form a darker belt round the shore. Six or 

 eight feet is reckoned a good length for a Cuvy, while Tangles may be found 

 from twelve to twenty feet." — Andersons Guide, ed. 1. p. 721, 722. 



I can bear witness to the accuracy of most of the above 

 observations, having had, last summer, an opportunity of seeing, 

 in the neighbourhood of the Giants' Causeway, both plants 

 growing in profusion, and each retaining its peculiarities. The 

 Tangle is strikingly obvious, from its dark colour, on the white 

 limestone-rocks near Dunluce Castle, where it. forms a clearly 

 defined fringe round the bases of the cliffs. I have traced it 

 from a few inches to many feet in length, and found it retain 

 its form, and colour, and glossy, flaccid stipe; and so far as 

 my opportunities of judging allow me to form an opinion, I am 

 disposed to regard it as a good species. But perhaps a more 

 careful observation, and comparison, may be necessary before 

 this be definitively settled, and for the present I leave it as a 

 form of L. digitata ; recommending the varieties of that species, 

 on all parts of the coast, to the study of observers. In drying 

 the colour becomes olive. 



In Mr. Edmondston's ' Flora of Shetland ' (p. 54), the trivial 

 name digit at a is applied to the plant here figured ; while the 

 ordinary L. digitata (or Cuvy) is called L. Cloustoni, Edm. 



Tab. CCCXXXVIII. A very young, and a more advanced specimen of 

 L.d. stenoplnjlla. Fig. 1. Small portion of a full- grown, compressed 

 stipes : — all the figures the natural size. 



