SIPHONACEiE. 
31 
YII. BRYOPSIS. Lamour. 
Root fibrous. Fronds tufted, each consisting of a single, erect, branching, unicel- 
lular, cylindrical filament ; branches and ramuli either imbricated or pinnate. Cell- 
wall firmly membranaceous, glistening. Endochrome granular and viscid, at length 
converted into zoospores , which escape through apertures formed in the cell-wall. 
This genus consists of several littoral Algae of small size, but among the most ele- 
gant of marine plants. They occur in tufts, seldom more than two to four inches in 
height, and grow either on the rocky margins of clear tide-pools, or epiphytically on 
other Algae. The frond is affixed to the rock by a slightly developed fibrous radicle, 
or simply by a disc, and consists of a single cylindrical elongated branching cell, filled 
with dense, starchy endochrome of a deep green colour, and destitute of any septum or 
interruption of the cavity throughout the whole length of the tube. The ramification 
is very generally on a pinnate type ; a primary undivided filament emits lateral virgate 
branches, also quite simple, and these are generally naked in the lower half of their 
length, and furnished with lateral, distichous or imbricated ramuli in the upper half. 
In some species, as in B. Balbisiana , there are either no ramuli or very few ; in others, 
as in B. myura , the ramuli are exceedingly numerous and densely set. Very many 
species have been named and described, with more or less care, by authors ; but many 
rest on very uncertain characters, and I fear that several must be regarded as mere 
varieties of B. plumosa , the original and most widely dispersed species. All are 
remarkable for a glassy lustre, when dry. They retain their colour, if carefully dried, 
and adhere closely to paper. 
1. Bryopsis plumosa , Lamour. ; frond setaceous, decompoundly much branched ; the 
ultimate branches filiform, virgate, naked in their lower half, and more or less plumoso- 
pectinate above ; ramuli simple. Ag. Sp. Alg. 1. p. 448. Harv. Phyc. Brit. tab. 3. 
Kutz. Syst. Alg.p. 493. Ulva plumosa, E. Bot. t. 2375.— Yar. /3. densa ; branches 
excessively crowded, the ultimate divisions pinnate near the apex, the pinnae some- 
times secund. — Yar. y secunda ; tufts matted ; fronds irregularly much branched ; 
branches flexuous, many of them naked, others set in the upper half with falcato- 
reflexed, secund (occasionally bilateral) ramuli. (Tab. XLY. A.) Yar. S ; ramulosa ; 
branches nearly naked, with a few scattered, secund ramuli. Bryopsis ramulosa. Mont. 
Hist. Cuba , p. 16. Tab. 3. jig. 2. (Tab. XLV. A.) 
Hab. Between tide marks in rock pools. Yarious localities near New York, com- 
mon. Charleston, South Carolina, and Key West. Yars. /3,y, and 8, intermixed with 
the ordinary form at Key West and Sand Key, W.H H. (v. v.) 
Root small, scutate, accompanied by lateral, entangled fibres, and sometimes matted. 
