Ser. MELANOSPERMEiE. Fam. Ectocarpece. 



Plate CLXXXIX. 



SPHACELARIA RADICANS, Haw. 



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) furnished with*a limbus, borne on the 

 ramuli. Sphacelaria [Lyngb.), — from o-cfxiKeXos, gangrene, alluding 

 to the withered tips of the branches. 



Sphacelaria radicans ; filaments erect, or decumbent, sending out a few 

 fibrous radicles from the lower part, sparingly branched ; branches 

 alternate, simple, very erect, straight, bare of ramuli ; utricles clus- 

 tered, sessile, globose. 



Sphacelaria radicans, Harv. in Hook. Br. FL vol. ii. p. 324. Harv. in 

 Mack. FL Hid. part 3. p. 181. Harv. Man. p. 39. Wyatt, Alg. Damn-. 

 no. 210. 



Sphacelaria cirrhosa, ( simplex, Ag. Sp. Alg. vol. ii. p. 29. 



Sphacelaria olivacea, Ag. Sp. Alg. vol. ii. p. 30. Harv. in Hook. Br. FL 

 vol. ii. p. 324. Harv. in Mack. FL Hib. part 3. p. 181. Harv. Man. 

 p. 39. Kutz. Fhyc. Gen. p. 292. Endl. '3rd Suppl. p. 24. 



Conferva radicans, DUlio. Supp. p. 57. t. C. E. Bot. t. 2138. 



Conferva olivacea, Dillio. Sup. p. 57. t. C. E. Bot. i. 2172. Hook. Fl. 

 Scot, part 2. p. 83. 



1:1 ab. On sand-covered rocks, between tide marks. Perennial? Autumn. 

 Rare. Bantry, Miss Hutchins. Dunmore, Waterford, Miss A. 

 Taylor. Orkney, Messrs. Hooker and Borrer. Appin, Capt. Carmi- 

 chael. Torbay, Mrs. Griffiths. Ilfracombe, Land's End, and Mount's 

 Bay, Mr. Raffs. 



Geogr. Distr. Iceland. Baltic Sea. Heligoland, Binder ! Coast of France, 

 Chaumn ! 



Descr. Root, decumbent, irregularly branched fibres, matted together. Filament* 

 capillary, from hall' an inch to an inch in length, erect, or decumbent, 

 forming dense, irregular tufts spreading over the' rocks in patches ol* various 

 extent, seldom fastigiate ; generally, owing to the unequal height of the 

 filaments, having a ragged appearance. Branches lew, irregular, eithei 

 alternate or secund, straight, simple, ver) erect, destitute of ramuli, hut 

 frequently emitting root-like fibres from their lower part, articulated 

 throughout. drUculaUons rather shorter than the diameter, longitudinally 

 striate ipices obtuse, seldom sphacelate. I tricles\ or spores, abundantly 



produced along the sides of the upper branches, globose, -tattered or 

 clustered together sessile, with a narrow pellucid border, and containing 



a dark sporaceous mass. Colour a dull greenish olive, preserved in drying 

 Substance rigid, rather harsh, not adhering (or bul verj slightly) to paper 



dull, and u ithoul gloss. 



