DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF FUCUS. 397 



Fronds numerous from the same base, nerveless, 

 from two or four inches long, linear, about two 

 lines wide. At first they are cylindrical, and about 

 the thickness of a sparrow's quill, but at two or 

 three lines distance from the base, the stem be- 

 comes flat and expands into the frond, which is 

 dichotomous, the distance between the dichotomies 

 being very irregular, sometimes more than half an 

 inch, often so small that three branches appear 

 to spring from the same centre. The branches 

 are patent, with their apices rounded ; those pro- 

 ducing fructification are rather narrower than the 

 barren ones ; the extreme dichotomies producing 

 tubercles, are sometimes so crowded as to give the 

 summits a palmated appearance. The fructifica- 

 tion consists of sphserical tubercles, immersed in the 

 substance of the frond, and scarcely so large as 

 small poppy seeds. They contain a mass of very 

 minute red seeds, surrounded by a semi transparent 

 mucus. The substance is cartilaginous, tough, 

 but less coriaceous than that of F. Norvegicus. 

 Colour deep blood-red, turning in decay to a yellow- 

 ish or greenish white. In drying, it assumes a re- 

 markable tinge of purple, and does not adhere to 

 paper. 



Duration. Perennial. 



This is one of the many additions to the British 

 Flora, for which we are indebted to the acuteness 



