58 SYNOPSIS OF BRITISH 1RAWS 



listortus tin 4 endochrome la Bmall, leaving wide dis- 

 sepiments and colourless borders ; the subs 

 ingly tender, and the branches break np into innumerable 

 frustules when remoistenecL In fact, it is impossible to 

 trace the ramification, Prom the extreme rottenness of the 

 moistened frond. In E. Landsburgii, on the contrary, 

 the endochrome completely fills the cavity; the difi 

 ments are mere lines; and the Bubstance is exceedingly 

 tough, and may be kept in i'vcAi water for hours or days 

 without injury. E. distortus is, too, a littoral species, 

 while our uew species has only been found by dredging iu 

 deep water. It appears to be of rare occurrence. 



90. littoralis [The littoral Ectocarpus) ; tufts dense, interwoven, 



olive-brown or foxy ; filaments coarse, much and irregularly 

 branched, the ultimate branchlets patent, alternate, or rarely 

 opposite ; masses of fructification imbedded in the substance 

 of the branches, in the form of oblong swellings, Lynyb. 11yd. 

 Ban. p. 130. t. 42. (Atlas, PI. XXI. Fig. 93.) 

 Ectocarpus compactus, Ay. E. ferrugineus, Ay. Conferva litto- 

 ralis, Linn. 

 Hah. Parasitical on Fuel and Laminarice, within and beyond the 

 influence of the tide. Annual ? At all seasons. 

 One of the commonest of the British Alga?, and widely 

 dispersed along the shores of the ocean of most temperate 

 countries, its specific name littoralis is peculiarly applicable. 

 ]N"or is this shore-plant at all particular in choosing the 

 substances to which it adheres, or the depth of water where 

 it vegetates. It equally infests the Fuci which grow be- 

 tween tide-marks, covering with a shaggy brown fleece 

 those that occur near high- water mark, and those that 

 prefer a deeper level, and the Laminarice that are never 

 exposed to the air. It thus extends nearly throughout the 

 whole belt occupied by sea-plants. ±sor is it confined to 

 open sea-shores ; it frequents estuaries, and ascends tidal 

 rivers for a considerable distance, growing either on i 

 vesiculosus or on submerged woodwork, and even on mud. 

 Towards the close of the summer the tufts become de- 

 tached, and float about in large masses, and at length are 

 stranded in broad belts along the coast. 



91. longifructus {The long -fruited Ectocarpus) ; tufts large, 



branching, the divisions feathery ; filaments robust, ex- 

 cessively branched, branches mostly opposite, the Lesser 

 ones set with short, spine- like, opposite or rarely alternate 



