Plate XIX. 



Fig. 81. ECTOCAEPUS SILICULOSUS. 



Colour. Yellowish^ or a pleasant olive-green; occasionally green; sometimes 

 rusty-brown. 



Substance. Somewhat gelatinous; soft; silky. 



Character of Frond. Long tufts of very slender^ jointed threads (filaments). 

 Filaments excessively branched. Branches irregularly set^ and of 

 various lengths; bearing a second and third set of many-times-divided 

 branchlets; the last ones sometimes only on one side {secund). 



Measurement. From 6 to 18 inches long. 



Fructification. In pod-like formations [silicules) ; external; borne on the 

 branches. Silicules awl-shaped; more or less finely pointed; marked 

 with lines across {transversely striate); stalked. 



Habitat. All round our coasts. On algae between tide-marks. Yery common. 



When dried, young this species has a gloss upon it. A variety, in which 

 the silicides have longer stalks than usual, has been called longipes. 



Fig. 82. ECTOCARPUS FASCICULATUS. 



Colour. Yarying from olive-green to brown. 

 Substance. Soft; but not so delicate as E. silictdosus. 



Character of Frond. Dense tufts of jointed threads [filaments) . Filaments 

 branched^ though not excessively. Branches distant; bearing through- 

 out_, short bundles of branchlets [fascicles) , many times divided. 



Measurement. From 1 to 3 inches long. 



Fructification. In pod-like formations [silicules); external; borne on the 

 branchlets. Silicules egg-shaped [ovate); with a more or less blunt 

 point ; marked with lines across [transversely striate) ; unstalked [sessile) ; 

 often several close together on one side the branchlet [secund). 



Habitat. Oiir coasts generally. On the larger alg^. Not uncommon. 



The finely drawn out point of the silicule, here figured, is very rarely, if 

 ever, met with. The silicules vary much in comparative width and length, 

 hut there is a tendency to bluntness at the tip, even when most drawn out. 



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