Fig. 202. CHONDRUS CRISPUS. 



Colour. Lurid purple in deep water, giving out rainbow-tints ; greenish or yellowish 



in shallow pools near high- water mark; fading to actual white. 

 Substance. Thickish and firmly elastic; horny when dry. 



Character of Frond. Flat; repeatedly forked {dicliotomous) ; spreading from a stem 

 which is taper at base; narrow-wedge shape upwards. Outline fan-shaped or 

 round. Divisions wedge-shaped; flat or curled; sometimes very narrow; some- 

 times very wide; often profuse and spreading; overlapping each other; angles 

 of branching (axils), rounded; tips obtuse, and commonly forked. Margins 

 sometimes fringed with frondlets. Root a disc. 



Measurement. From 2 to 10 inches high. 



Fructification. Of three kinds. 1. Masses of minute spores in prominent, oval 

 capsules; immersed in the lesser frond-divisions. Rare. 2. Tetraspores in 

 large oval groups (sori), scattered all over the surface; often prominent to one 

 side only. Common. 3. Prominent warts, composed of radiating threads; 

 imperfectly understood. 



Habitat. All our rocky coasts. Finest in deep water. Very common. 



So variable in appearance that no description will suit all the forms. This 

 is the plant sold as " Carrigeen," or Irish Moss. "When boiled down to a jelly 

 it is good for coughs and general weakness; excellent also for fattening cattle. 

 It contains a largo per-centage of nitrogen. 



Fig. 203. CHONDRUS NORVEGICUS. 



Colour. A deep, dull blood-red; or morone. 



Substance. Firm and elastic; thinner than in Cliondrus crispus. 



Character of Frond. Flat; narrow; repeatedly forked (dichotomous) spreading from 

 a short cylindrical stem. Outline fan-shaped or round. Divisions widening a 

 little, but not much, upwards; angles of branching (axils) wide-spread; tips 

 rounded. 



Measurement. From 2 to 3 inches high. 



Fructification. Of two kinds. 1. Minute spores in tiny capsules, imbedded in the 

 substance of the frond, slightly prominent to both surfaces. 2. Tetraspores 

 collected into round groups (sori); scattered on both surfaces, prominent. 



Habitat. The warmer southern and western stations on our coasts. On rocks near 

 low- water mark. Fine at Miltown Malbay. Saltcoats; Dr. Lansborough. 

 Rather rare. 



Now Gymnogongrus Norvegicus. Preferring warm to cold latitudes; so that 

 the name is an unlucky one. 



Fig. 204. CATENELLA OPUNTIA. 



Colour. Dark, dull purple. 



Substance. Membranaceous. Tender and soft; more or less full of moisture. 



Character of Frond. Densely tufted; rising from creeping fibres; semi-tubular; con- 

 stricted at intervals, as if jointed; resembling the Indian fig {Cactus Opuntia) 

 in miniature; irregularly branched from the constrictions. 



Measurement. From J to an inch high. 



Fructification. Of two kinds. 1. Masses of spores in broadly-oval capsules, formed 



in one of the lesser branchlets. 2. Tetraspores immersed in the same. 

 Habiiat. Our coasts generally. On rocks near high-water mark. Common. 



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