RHODOSPERMEA. 143 
size. The fronds are hair-like and very thin, seldom over 2in. long, sparingly 
branched below, but forked above, and usually terminating in one or two 
trifid tips; h, is a small branch of var. abnorme, a very curious form, 
found chiefly on the Cornish coast. The fronds are about 2in. high, the 
‘branches are alternate, and produce here and there two or three very short 
Fie, 132. Nemaieon multifidum. 
ramuli, which are either deflexed or set at right angles with the stems. This 
variety is also found on the Cornish shores. One of the smallest of this 
group is the tiny var. clavatum, the fronds being scarcely 2in. high; the 
branches and ramuli are attenuated at their insertion and club-shaped at 
the tips. This variety is found in Scotland as well as on the south coast 
of England. The granular fruit of these plants, which is usually disporic, 
being apparently composed of two parts only, is placed in the ultimate 
ramuli or lesser branchlets. The colour of most of them is generally a 
dull red, becoming lighter in decay, but the var. latifolium is always a 
bright rich red, and when found growing in shady rock pools under the F uci, 
the colour is often a brilliant crimson. These horny plants rarely adhere 
well to payer, but when they are nicely displayed and thoroughly dried, 
they may be permanently secured to paper by applying to the under side of 
the fronds a mixture composed of isinglass dissolved in spirits of wine. 
The Order Helminthocladiee is a small group of plants, most of which 
are composed of branching filaments, set in a kindof loose but tenacious 
gelatinous matter. When gathered fresh from the sea they are remark- 
ably like a lot of slimy worms entwined together, hence the name of the 
Order, which signifies ‘‘ worm-like branches.’’ The spores of these plants 
are round and very minute, and are borne on branched filaments which 
radiate from the axis of the stems. They are not produced in conceptacles 
of any kind, but are merely attached to the gelatinous threads which form 
the periphery or outer margin of the frond. Tetraspores are borne in the 
marginal cells of the external filaments. Fig. 132 represents a complete 
plant of Nemaleon multifidum, the names signifying ‘‘much-divided crop 
of threads,”’ in reference to the division or branching of the fronds, and 
the numerous threads or filaments of which they are composed. The 
