132 BRITISH MARINE ALGA. 
and one small variety has its laciniations hooked at the extremities in the 
shape of a sickle. The lower parts of the frondsare very distinctly veined. 
Spherical sori or round tubercles are scattered here and there over the 
fronds, but not numerously ; tetraspores are arranged in spots within the 
margin of the segments, or borne in the leaflets which fringe the fronds in 
some specimens. The colour is usually a rosy pink, sometimes inclining to 
a pale purple. This species does not always adhere well to paper. When- 
ever I am troubled in this way, with good plants of this or any other 
species, my invariable rule is to immerse them, paper as well, in skimmed 
milk, and then dry and press them as before. This process does not affect 
the colour or condition of the plants in any way, but it causes them to 
adhere permanently to the paper, more satisfactorily than by any other 
method J have ever heard of. N. versicolor is, par excellence, the rarity of . 
this genus. It is seldom, if ever, found growing, being most probably a 
deep-water plant. Minehead, and down the coast above and below IIfra- 
combe, are the only localities in this country where it is found cast ashore. 
The plant, which is seldom more than 2in. high, arises from a short but 
distinct stem, and expands into a fan-shaped frond, which is cleft into a 
few more or less rounded segments. The colour is rose-red, changing to a 
bright orange by contact with fresh water; hence the specific name of 
versicolor. Tubercles, very recently discovered on a specimen taken at 
Ilfracombe, and identified as such by Mrs. Merrifield, of Brighton, are 
scattered over the upper part of the lobed segments. This is, I believe, 
the first recorded instance of the fruit of this rare species having been 
detected on British specimens. Occasionally specimens are found with the 
tips of the lobes curled over and hardened into processes which, some 
writers believe, dropoff at maturity and develop into new plants. This 
opinion was communicated to me by Miss Gifford, of Minehead, a well- 
known and highly scientific botanist, who has had such frequent opportu- 
nities for observing the appearance of this curious plant, and the constant 
development of the callous tips of its fronds, that I am inclined to accept 
this lady’s explanation of the object of these singular apical processes 
‘on the fronds of N. versicolor, Fig. 121 represents a portion of one of 
Miss Gifford’s plants, of the natural size. I will now describe two 
forms of that highly beautiful species, N. punctatwm, specifically named 
from the numerous and very distinct dots or groups of tetraspores so 
frequently found on these plants. The forms are so numerous that 
botanists name and describe no less than five distinct varieties. 
These beautiful plants are attached to other sea-weeds, but they mostly 
grow in deep water, and are found in some form or other on all the British 
coasts. The typical form, as represented at Fig. 122, is at first a broad 
wedge-shaped membrane, which grows out into a dichotomously divided 
frond; each division terminating in several short, finger-like lobules, with 
rounded axils and tips of a lovely rose-colour, the lower portions of the 
plant being of a paler tint. Mature plants sometimes attain a circum. 
ference of 2ft. or more. Tubercles are scattered over the surfare of the 
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