78 
SPOROCHNACEiE. — Desmarestia. 
iy. 
substance. Colour , when growing, a fine chesnut-olive, quickly changing to ver- 
digris green when removed from the water. Substance tender, soon decomposing. 
2. Desmarestia aculeata , Lamour. ; stipes short, cylindrical ; stems (or primary 
branches) elongate, flattish, bi-tripinnate ; pinnae and pinnulee alternate, very narrow, 
tapering to the base, either fringed with opposite tufts of bright green filaments or 
margined with awl-shaped, alternate spines. J. Ag. Sp. Alg. vol. 1, p. 167- Kiitz. 
Sp. Alg. p. 571. Harv. Phyc. Biit. t. 49- Grev. Alg. Brit. t. 5,/. 2, 3. Fucus 
aculeatus , Linn. Turn. Hist. Fuc. t. 187. Eng. Bot. t. 2445. (Tab. IY. B.) 
Hab. On submerged rocks and stones at low-water mark and at a greater depth. 
Very abundant on the east shores, from our northern limits to Long Island Sound (at 
least). Probably also on the N.AY. coast (being found at Kamtschatka). (v. v.) 
Fronds from one to six feet in length, about half a line in width, compressed or 
fiattish, excessively branched and bushy ; the branches usually alternate, rarely 
opposite, erect, tapering to their base and apex, as do also all the lesser divisions. 
AYhen young the branches are of a tender substance, soft to the touch, and clothed 
at intervals of about a line with opposite pencils of finely divided byssoid filaments 
of a beautiful yellow green colour. In older fronds these delicate filaments fall 
away, and the branches become rigid and tough, while subulate spinelike alternate 
teeth are developed from the margin at every three or four lines apart. In transi- 
tion specimens both spines and filaments are found together, the former being com- 
paratively soft. Colour pale olive when young, foxy brown or sometimes very dark 
when old. 
At different ages this plant may readily be taken by a student for two species, 
as indeed it was by Linnaeus himself. 
3. Desmarestia ligulata , Lamour. ; frond flat, with a slender, more or less evident 
midrib, repeatedly pinnate ; pinnae and pin nuke opposite, oblong or lanceolate, 
tapering to both ends. J. Ag. Sp. Alg. vol. 1, p. 169. Kiitz. Sp. Alg. p. 572. 
Harv. Phyc. Brit. t. 115. Fucus ligulatus , Turn. Hist. t. 98. E. Bot. 1 . 1636. Fucus 
herbaceus , Turn. Hist. t. 99- Desmarestia herbacea , Auct. 
Hab. North West Coast, Mr. Menzies. (v. v.) 
The ordinary European form of this species, figured in Phyc. Brit.t. 115, has not 
yet been noticed on the American coast, except at Cape Horn (!), but may be 
expected to occur on the shores of some part of British America. The plant 
recorded above as having been found by Mr. Menzies on the N. AY. coast has 
broader leaves, but, to judge by Mr. Turner’s figure, is scarcely otherwise to be 
distinguished. The following is his description of Mr. Menzies’ specimens : — 
