INTRODUCTION. 



Earlier sources of our knowledge of Denmark's marine Algae. 



When on searching for the oldest statements in the literature on the Danish 

 marine Algse, we come upon Oeder's Enumeratio plantarum Florae Danicse^, we 

 might expect to find important information there, as the work deals specially 

 with the '■'Cryptantherce" i. e. the cryptogams. A considerable number of species 

 of the genera Conferva, Ulva and Fuciis are certainly mentioned there, but these 

 are not known to occur inside the boundaries of the Danish kingdom. As the 

 author, according to his own statement, had not studied the lower plants very 

 closely, he contents himself with giving a good many North-European species, 

 which he supposes might be found here. This paper therefore does not contain 

 any more information about the Danish marine Alga? than that found in "Flora 

 Danica", to which work reference is made for all the species figured there. Oeder 

 has certainly mentioned not a small number of species in this monumental pictor- 

 ial work, which began to appear in 1761, but they are almost all from Norway 

 and Iceland or without indication of the locality. Only two species are noted from 

 Denmark, namely Tab. 166, Fucus siliquosiis (1763) [Halidrys siliquosus (L.) Lgb.] and 

 Tab. 393, Fucus fastigialus (1768) [Furcellaria fastigiata (Huds.) Lamx.]. 



In the parts of the same work edited by O. Fr. Mulleh (1775—1782) only 

 a few marine Algae from Denmark were mentioned (Tab. 763, Ulva prolifera [Entero- 

 morpha prolifera (Miill.) J. Ag.]; Tab. 771, 2, Conferva Linuni [Chceiomorpha Linum 

 (Miill.) Kiitz.]; Tab. 821, Fucus Filum [Chorda Filum (L.) Stackh.]; Tab. 882 Conferva 

 flexuosa [Cladophora sp.]; Tab. 889, Ulva LiiuM [Enteromorpha Lima (L.) J. Ag.]), 

 and none at all in the parts edited by Martin Vahl. At the end of the 18th 

 century information was thus present about only a very small number of species 

 of marine Algse found on the coasts of Denmark. 



In 1803 Schumacher'* gives 26 species of Algae from the coast of Sealand. 

 A considerable proportion of these are however so insufficiently described that 



' G. C. Oeder, Enumeratio plantarum Florse Danicse. Cryptantherse. Hafniae 1770. 



- Icones Florse Danicse. Hafnise 1761 — 1883 (Edit.: Oeder, O. F. Muller, M. Vahl, Hornemann, 



LlEBMAN, JOH. LaNGE). 



') C. F. Schumacher, Enumeratio plantarum in partibus Siellandiae septentrionalis et orientalis. 

 Pars posterior, Hafnise 1803. 



