62 
RoPER^ on the genus Licmophora. 
each, some belong to one and some to tlie other species ; and 
that the Licmophora splendida of the ' Synopsis ' is the true 
L. flabellata of Agardh, and the L. flabellata the true L. 
splendida of Greville. 
It is also, I think, clearly proved that the only ground for 
considering them as true species is that they differ in the 
size and comparative breadth of the frustule and (on the 
evidence of several observers) in the size of the plant, but that 
there is no decided structural peculiarity. As it is highly 
probable that a more extended examination of living speci- 
mens may show that this is owing to habitat and the nature 
of the plant on which they grow — the larger forms growing 
on those that offer a firm and decided support to the stipes, 
whilst the smaller may be confined to the weaker and more 
filiform algse — I consider that, as far as we at present know, 
they ought to be considered rather as varieties than true 
species, and that both ought to be classed under the name of 
Licmophora flabellata^ Ag. 
