Ser. Melanosperme/E. Fain. Ectocarpece. 



Plate CLXXVIII. 



SPHACELARIA CIRRHOSA, A g . 



Gen. Char. Filaments jointed, rigid, distichously branched, pinnated ; 

 rarely simple or subdichotomous. Apices of the branches distended, 

 membranous, containing a dark, granular mass. Fructification-, 

 elliptical utricles (or spores), borne on the ramuli. Sphacelaria 

 (Lyngb.), from o-faiceXos, gangrene, alluding to the withered tips of 

 the branches. 



Sphacelaria cirrhosa-, parasitical; filaments naked at the base, short, 

 densely tufted, simple or branched, jointed throughout; stem, or 

 branches, pinnate ; pinnae opposite, alternate, or irregular, of unequal 

 length ; utricles sessile or shortly stalked, scattered, globose. 



Sphacelaria cirrhosa, Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 164. Ag. Sp. vol. ii. p. 27. Harv. 

 in Hook. Br. Fl. vol. ii. p. 324. Wyatt, Alg. Damn. no. 171. Harv. in 

 Mack. Fl. Hib. part 3. p. 180. Harv. Man. p. 38. /. Ag. Alg. Medit. 

 p. 29. Midi. 3rd Suppl. p. 24. Grev. Crypt, t. 317. Kg. Phyc. Gen. p. 292. 



Sphacelaria pennata, Lyngb. p. 105. t. 31. (excl. var. /3.) 

 Ceramium cirrhosurn, Hook. Fl. Scot, part 2. p. 86. 

 Conferva marina perbrevis villosa et cirrhosa, Bill. Muse. t. 4. f. 21. 

 Conferva cirrhosa, Roth. Cat. vol. ii. p. 2] 4. vol. hi. p. 294. 

 Conferva intertexta, Roth. Cat. vol. i. p. 188. t. 3. f. 5. 

 Conferva pennata, Huds. p. 604. Billw. t. 86. E. Rot. t. 2330 {right- 

 hand figure). Fl. Ban. t. 1486. f. 2. 



Hab. Parasitic on the smaller Algae, between tide marks. Perennial ? 



Summer. Very common. 

 Geogr. Distr. Abundant on the Atlantic and Mediterranean shores of Europe. 



Descr. Filaments from a quarter of an inch to one or two inches in length, 

 slender, forming globose, dense tufts, very variable in the amount of ramifi- 

 cation. Some of the smaller varieties are but slightly branched, the 

 branches irregularly pinnate. In others the main filament is repeatedly 

 divided, the branches closely set, spreading, short in the lower part of the 

 frond, elongated above, once or twice pinnate. Pinna closely set, opposite 

 or alternate, erect or spreading, mostly simple and naked, sometimes pin- 

 nulated, very irregular in length, but gradually becoming shorter to the 

 tips, slightly tapering. Apices frequently sphacelate. Joints visible in all 

 parts of the stem and branches, at distances asunder equal to about the 

 diameter of the frond, longitudinally striate. Utricles globose, scattered 

 along the pinnae, either sessile or raised on shori Btalks. Colour olive; 

 becoming a foxj brown in age. Substance rigid, not adhering to paper in 

 drying. 



Here we have a very common and very variable plant, which 

 puts on several distinct looking forms, according to the locality 



