Ser. Melanospermej!:. Fam. Laminariea. 



Plate CCLXXXV. 



CHORDA LOMENTARIA, Lyagb. 



Gen. Char. Root scutate. Frond simple, cylindrical, tubular j its cavity 

 divided by transverse membranous septa, into separate chambers. 

 Fructification , a stratum of obconical spores much, attenuated at the 

 base, covering the whole external surface of the frond. Among these 

 are found elliptical antlieridia. Chorda {Stack.), — a cord. 



Chorda lomentaria; frond membranaceous, constricted at distant inter- 

 vals, the interstices inflated. 



Chorda lomentaria, Lyngb. Hyd. Ban. p. 74. t. 18. Grev. Alg. Brit. p. 48. 

 Hook. Brit. Fl. vol. ii. p. 276. Harv. in Mack. Fl. Hib. part 3. p. 174. 

 Harv. Man. p. 35. ed. 2. p. 32. Wyatt, Alg. Damn. no. 6. E. Bot. Suppl. 

 t. 2902. /. Ag. Alg. Medit. p. 45. 



Chorda fistulosa, Zanard. Syn. Alg. Adr. p. 87. 



Scytosiphon lomentaria, Endl. 3rd Suppl. p. 25. /. Ag. Spec. Alg. vol. i. 

 p. 126. 



Scytosiphon filum, var. y, Ag. Spec. Alg. vol. i. p. 162. Ag. Syst. p. 257. 



Solenia fuscata, Bory, Moree, no. 1485. 



Asperococcus castaneus, Carm. Hook. Br. Fl. vol. ii. p. 277. 



Chlorosiphon Skuttleworthianus, Kiltz. Phyc. Gen. p. 301. 



Hab. On rocks, stones, and the smaller Algae, in tide-pools. Annual. 

 Summer and autumn. Abundant on the shores of the British Islands. 



Geogr. Distr. Atlantic shores of Europe from Norway to Spain. Mediterranean 

 Sea. Shores of North and South America. Japan. Southern and Antarctic 

 Oceans. 



Descr. Root a minute, naked disc. Fronds from eight to twelve or eighteen 

 inches in length, tapering at the base to the diameter of horse-hair, at- 

 tenuated upwards, either to a bluntish or a very fine point, from two to 

 four lines in diameter at the greatest breadth, cylindrical, constricted at 

 irregular intervals and furnished with a transverse septum at each constric- 

 tion. The walls of the tube are composed of a thick layer of large, poly- 

 gonal cells, of which the outer ones are gradually smaller ; on the outside of 

 which, forming the periphery, is a stratum of radiating, close-packed, moni- 

 liform filaments. These are only found in their full development in mature 

 specimens. Colour a brownish or greenish olive. Substance membrana- 

 ceous and soft, adhering closely to paper in drying. 



A common plant, of little beauty, widely dispersed through 

 the temperate oceans of both hemispheres. In a young state 

 no septa arc visible externally, the frond being filiform. In this 



VOL. III. \ 



