90 SEA MOSSES. 



the commonest plants growing with the other 

 Laminariecz throughout the season at Santa Cruz, 

 California. 



Genus. — ALARIA* Grev. 



Alaria esculenta, Grev. 



The edible Alaria grows upon submerged rocks 

 just below tide. It is a plant whose peculiar aspect 

 makes it very easy of recognition and quite impos- 

 sible to confound with any other. Unlike any 

 other of the " Kelps/' except the Agarum it has a 

 stout midrib running the whole length of the plant. 

 This together with the little cluster of ribless leaflets 

 or wings, borne on each side of the stem, just 

 below the blade, makes the plant absolutely distinct. 

 These leaflets bear the spores or fruit, and are 

 always present except on young plants. The plant 

 makes its anchorage, upon the rock by the same 

 means as the Laminariecz generally. The stem 

 is from three inches to a foot long, cylindrical. The 

 blade consists of a thin wavy, or ruffled olive 

 colored membrane, from one to four inches wide, 



* Alaria = winged. 



