Fig. 300. CLADOPHOEA L^TEVIRENS. 



Colour, A pale transparent yellow-green; greyish, and without gloss when 

 dry. 



Substance. Soft; more or less adhering to paper. 



Character of Frond. Dense tufts of jointed threads {filaments), very much 

 branched; bushy. Filaments scarcely as thick as horse-hair; closely 

 set with numerous, straight, but spreading, opposite, or irregularly- 

 set branches, which are repeatedly re-branched. Branches often 

 crowded with re-branched branclilets; the last set of which are secund 

 and spreading; tips blunt. 



Joints. Those of the principal branches long; of the branchlets about twice 

 as long as broad; filled with light-green colouring matter (endochrome) . 



Measurement. From 4 to 8 inches long. 



Fructification. Minute seeds {zoospores) formed of the colouring matter in 

 the joints; and in due time bursting through them. 



Habitat. Our coasts generally. On rocks, &c. in tide-pools. Yery common. 



In habit of growth very hke C. glomerata, which is common in fresh-water 

 streams, and sometimes grows to a greater length, than the marine plant. 

 They are supposed by botanists to be the same species under different circum- 

 stances of existence. 



Fig. 301. CLADOPHORA FLEXUOSA. 



Colour. A rather dull green; often half-opaque. 



Substance. Somewhat rigid and harsh to the touch, but more or less 

 adhering to paper. 



Character of Frond. Loose tufts of jointed threads {filaments), very much 

 branched. Filaments very wavy, or angularly bent; clothed more or 

 less closely throughout, with wavy branches of very unequal lengths, 

 alternately or irregularly set. Branches several times divided and re- 

 branched; the last divisions long, spreading, curved, set with delicately 

 slender branchlets, arranged secund--w\^Q, like the teeth of a comb, 

 first on one side, then on the other, of the stems; their tips very 

 fine. 



Joints. Those of the branches three or four times as long as broad; those 

 of the branchlets twice; filled with green colouring matter {endochrome). 



Measurement. From 4 to 8 inches long. 



Fructification. Minute seeds {zoospores) formed of the colouring matter in 

 the joints, and in due time bursting through them. 



Hahitat. Yarmouth. Torquay. Ballycastle. Clontarf, &c. In rock-pools 

 between tide-marks, and in salt-water ditches near Yarmouth. Not 

 uncommon. 



In specimens from Clontarf the extreme slenderness of the secund branchlets 

 forms quite a mark of distinction. 



54 



