ECTOCAlir.uT.i:. ,% 1 



This charming plant, one of the rarest and most beau- 

 tiful of the filiform marine Algas, in land-locked harbours, 



attains a very large size, being upwards of a fool in Length. 

 In more exposed places it seldom exceeds three or four 

 inches. It is in greatest beauty in April and May, at 

 which time its fronds arc glossy, beautifully feathered, and 

 of a clear "live; Later in the >«-a-<»n it becomes browner, 

 and loses much of the feathery appearance. Jn some 

 respects it exhibits a transition t«> Sphacelaria, proving 

 the close connection which exists between thai irrnu< ana 

 irpus, and the little necessity there is for placing 

 them in different families, as is now done by Continental 

 authors. 



XXXV. MYRTOTRTCIIIA. 



9G. clavseformis {The club-shaped Myriotrichia)\ Btem densely 

 beset with quadrtfarious ramuli, which gradually inc 

 in length from the base upwards, giving tin- frond a club- 

 Bhaped figure, H<<rr. in Hook.Joum. Hot. v. 1. p. 300. /.138. 

 Ltlas, PL XX 11. Pig. KH.) 

 ll>>h. Parasitical on Chorda lomentaria. Annual. Summer. 



This curious little parasite, which in Borne seasons is not 

 uncommon on the fronds of Chorda lomentaria, though tar 

 mmon than the closely-allied M. filiformis, I regard 

 as being more nearly allied to Ectocarpus than to any other 

 genus, although Endlicher has placed it nearer to Cladoste- 

 phus, to which its quadrifarioufl ramuli hear some i 

 blance. In the long hyaline fibres which plentifully clothe 

 it ineverystate.it is distinct from both. These fibres 1 for- 

 merly described as being forked; on a more careful exami- 

 nation T cannot detect this character. They appear b 

 indiscriminately from the apices and the lateral sides of 

 the ramuli. 



97. filiformis The thread-like Myriotrichia) \ Btera filiform, 

 Blender, often demons or curled, beset at irregular intervals 

 with oblong clusters of short, papillseform ramuli, Harv. Man, 

 p. n. (Atlas, PL XXII. Kg. J 

 Hah. Parasitical on Chorda lomentaria^ often accompanying 31. 

 clavaiformis. Annual. Summer. Not uncommon. 

 While in the preceding Bpecies the ramuli regularly in- 

 crease in Length from the base upwards, bo as i" give the 

 frond a club-shaped, or very slender pear-shaped, outlines 

 in this they preserve Dearly an equal length in different 

 parts of the frond, and are collected into oblong clusters, 



