26 SYNOPSIS OF BRITISH BBAWBED8. 



1 of its membrane, only is used. It has 

 taste, bill is rather insipid. 



XIF. LAMINAE] A. 

 2L digitata {The fingered Lamin l long, woody , cy- 



lindrical, gradually tapering and somewhat i up- 



wards, expanding into a Leathery, roundish-oblong frond, 

 deeply cleft into many linear segments, Lamour. Jiss. p. 22. 

 (Atlas, PL VL Pig. 24.) 

 Laminaria stenoloba, De Lap. Ilafgygia digitata, Ktz. Fucufl 



digitatus, Linn. V. hyperboreus, Chmn. 

 ILab. On rocks beyond the reach of the tide, extending to the 

 depth of about fifteen fathoms. Perennial. Winter. Abun- 

 dant. 

 A well-known plant, the common Sea-girdles or Tangle, 

 which grows to a large size on all rocky coasts. Our figure 

 may appear a caricature to persons acquainted only with 

 the plant in the state in which it is usually cast ashore, but 

 I have purposely selected a specimen to illustrate its very 

 curious mode of growth. The root and stem are perennial, 

 but the many-cleft leaf is renewed every season and the 

 old one cast off. Our specimen represents the nearly per- 

 fectly-formed leaf of the present season, and the base of the 

 leaf of last year adhering to the tips of its segments. 

 2L* digitata, var. stenophylla (narrow-leaved variety) ; 

 whole plant dark-brown ; stipes slender, flaccid, glossy, be- 

 coming compressed or flattened upwards ; lamina wedge- 

 shaped and tapering at base, much longer than the stipe, 

 digitate, its segments few, and very narrow. (Atlas, PI. VII. 

 Fig. 25.) 

 Hafgygia digitata, var. stenophylla, Ktz. Laminaria conica, Bory. 

 Hab. Common round the shores of the Orkney Islands and the 

 Xorth of Ireland. 

 A remarkable variety of the preceding species, or entitled 

 to specific distinction. My attention was first drawn to it 

 by my friend the E-ev. J. H. Pollexfen, who directed me 

 to some excellent remarks on these Laminaria?, furnished 

 by the Eev. C. Clouston, of Orkney, to ' Anderson's Guide 

 to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.' The differ- 

 ences between these varieties are so marked, that the Ork- 

 ney kelp-men have assigned peculiar local names to each, 

 calling the ordinary L. digitata, "Cuvy," and the form 

 here figured, " Tangle." 

 25. bulbosa {The hidbous Laminaria) ; stem flat, with a waved 



