Fig. 52. LITOSIPHON PUSILLUS. 



Colour. Olive-brown. 



Substance. Soft; membranaceous; slimy. 



Character of Frond. Long tbread-like {filiform) tufts; unbrancbed; of equal tbick- 

 ness throughout; clothed with hairs; growing in patches on old fronds of 

 CJiorda filum. 



Measurement. From 2 to 6 inches long; thickness, a hog's bristle. 



Fructification. Minute seeds (spores')^ solitary or in clusters; scattered over the 

 surface of the frond. 



Sahitat. Our coasts generally. Always parasitic on Cliorda filum. Common. 



This genus is now called, by Continental botanists, Wyattia, after Mrs. Wyatt. 



Fig. 53. LITOSIPHON LAMINARI^. 



Colour. Dull olive-brown; marked with bands across. 

 Suhstance. Soft; membranaceous. 



Character of Frond. Short, thread-like {-filiforni), starry tufts; unbrancbed; smooth 

 (or hairy at the tips); blunt upwards; scattered dot-like on the frond of 

 Alaria esculenta. 



Measurement. From J to |- an inch long; thickness, a hog's bristle. 



Fructification. Minute seeds (spores') solitary, scattered; or several in each band 

 across. 



Habitat. Our coasts generally. Always parasitic on Alaria esculenta. Common. 



IN^ow Wyattia laminarice. 



Fig. 54. LEATHESIA TUBERIFORMIS. 



Colour. Olive-brown. 



Substance. Fleshy; elastic; slippery-feeling. 



Character of Frond. More or less globose; forming tubers of various sizes and 

 shapes; full of cottony fibres when young; hollow and inflated when older; 

 adhering to rocks in large patches, or growing on the fronds of other algse. 



Measurement. Every size, from a pea to a large walnut. 



Fructification. Minute seeds (spores) concealed in the substance of the frond. 

 Habitat. All round our coasts. On rocks and algse between tide-marks; abundantly. 



Called tuberiformis, or tuber-shaped, from its resemblance "to a cluster of 

 potatoes." For another Leathesia see Plate XV. 



26 



