Fig. 211. GYMNOGONCxRUS PLICATUS. 



Colour. Dark-purple; fading to pinky and white. 

 Substance. Remarkably horny and stiff. 



Character of Frond. Like fine wire; o£ one thickness tlirougkout. Cylin- 

 drical; slender; entangled; often in large bundles; very irregularly 

 branched; partly forked [dichotomous) , partly alternately or secund 

 (two or three branches on one side in succession) ; more or less 

 furnished with short branchlets, horizontally set, and sometimes 

 spreading in all directions. All the angles of branching [axils) 

 rounded. 



Measurement. From 4 to 10 inches long. 



Fructification. Only one kind found ; and that imperfectly understood. 

 Oblong warts embracing the stem, composed of very slender, jointed 

 radiating threads. 



Ilahitat. Our rocky shores generally. On rocks between tide-marks, and 

 at a greater depth. Common. 



T^ow Ahnfeldtla plicata. For another Gymnogongrus, see Plate ^LIV. Fig. 

 200. 



Fig. 212. POLYIDES EOTUNDUS. 



Colour. Brownish-purple; becoming much darker in drying. 

 Suhstance. Between gristly and fleshy; solid; elastic. 



Character of Frond. Cylindrical; of one thickness throughout (about that 

 of whipcord) ; repeatedly forked (dichotomous) ; the tips cut to one 

 level, forming a rounded outline; the last forkings short; angles 

 of division {a,xils) rounded. Tufted. Boot a wide-spread disc. 



Measurement. From 4 to G inches high. 



Fructification. Of two kinds. 1. Clustered groups of sjpores, nestling 

 among threads, in large oblong, but irregular, spongy warts, which 

 are pink when fresh; external; embracing the stems. 2. Tetrasjwres 

 deeply imbedded in swollen upper branchlets. 



Hahitai. Our coasts generally. On rocks and stones between tide-marks. 

 Common. 



Yery like Furcellaria fastigiata. Distinguishable, however, by its disc root; 

 and its spongy parts of fructification when these are present. Otherwise by 

 its rounded axils and the shortness of the last forkings. 



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