Ser. MelanospermejE. Fam. Ectocarpea. 



Plate CCLVII. 



ECTOCARPUS FENESTRATUS, Berk. 



Gen. Char. Frond capillary, jointed, olive or brown, flaccid, single-tubed, 

 without longitudinal striae. Fruit either spherical or elliptical, external 

 or imbedded spores ; or lanceolate, linear, or conical silicules (pod- 

 like bodies) ; or granular masses formed in consecutive cells of the 

 branches. Ectocarpus {Lyngb.), — from cktos, Kafmos, external fruit '. 



Ectocarpus fenestratus ; pale green, very slender, forming small tufts; 

 filaments not much branched ; branches distant, alternate, furnished 

 with a few long and simple, alternate ramuli; articulations of the 

 branches twice or thrice as long as broad, pellucid ; silicules stalked, 

 scattered, at first clavate, then elliptic-oblong, obtuse, densely striate 

 transversely, and cross-barred, dark brown. 

 Ectocarpus fenestratus, Berk, in Herb. Griff. MSS. Harv. Man. Ed. 2. p. 58. 



Hab. Salcombe, Mrs. Wyatt. Annual. May. 



Descr. Filaments forming small tufts, very slender, one or two inches high, not 

 very much branched; the branches lying apart and somewhat feathery, 

 alternate, repeatedly divided, all the divisions erect, the ultimate ramuli 

 prolonged and straight. Articulations variable (as in all the genus), usually 

 in the middle part of the stems twice or thrice as long as broad, full of a 

 pale olive, translucent endochrome, with a very few grains dispersed through 

 it ; in the upper part gradually shorter. Silicules pedicellate, at first club- 

 shaped and naiTOW, afterwards becoming elliptic-oblong, or somewhat 

 fusiform, but always very blunt at each end. When fully ripened they are 

 dark coloured, marked with closely set, transverse and longitudinal strise, 

 which mark the surface with small, square reticulations, like a mosaic 

 pavement, or the lattice of a window ; an appearance alluded to in the 

 specific name. Colour, pale greenish olive. Substance flaccid, closely 

 adhering to paper. 



The characters by which this plant is distinguished from 

 others of the genus — namely, simplicity in branching and the 

 peculiar form of the silicule, — appear sufficiently well marked ; 

 and we may therefore hope that we have here the foundation of a 

 good species which will be detected in other localities, and in 

 greater abundance than has yet been the case. At present I 

 have only seen a single small specimen, or rather half a speci- 

 men, for the tuft that I owe to the kindness of Mrs. Griffiths 



