OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
405 
II.— Class PHAEOPHYCEAE (“Brown Algae”) • 
The Phaeophyceae constitute the group of “Brown Algae” in which the 
green of the chlorophyll in the plastids is masked by the two brown pig- 
ments fucoxanthin a and /3 . They form a quite well-marked group 
upon which a good deal of cytological investigation has been carried 
out, so that the life-cycles of the majority of the genera are well known. 
Within the group there are three definite types of life-cycles (now forming 
the basis of their classification), and these can be represented by Ectocarpus , 
Dictyota, and Fucus. 
The standard classification of the Brown Algae prior to the early 1920 ’s 
had always been that of Oltmann’s (1904-1905) or of Kjellmann (1891) 
in Engler and Prantl, but in 1915-1916 and the years following Sauvageau, 
quickly followed by Kylin, began to throw an entirely new light upon the 
life histories of the Browns, particularly the kelps for which a microscopic 
oogamous gametophyte was discovered for Laminaria. This promoted a 
series of enthusiastic searches for missing sporophytes or gametophytes of 
various species and the elucidation of, their life histories, and this steadily 
increasing flood of data necessitated that the group be viewed from an 
entirely different standpoint, and that the primary classification be over- 
hauled. In 1922 Prof. W. Randolph Taylor suggested that such a classi- 
fication could well be based upon the nature of the life-cycle and formulated 
a classification of a tentative nature embodying this, in contrast to all 
previous classifications which had been based upon the structure and means 
of reproduction. The new classification, however, was not sufficiently com- 
plete to serve all practical needs, and with later research rapidly became 
obsolete. Various phycologists offered their preferences, and in 1925 W. 
A. Setchell and N. L. Gardner produced a classification essentially from a 
systematic viewpoint, while in 1933 Dr. Harold Kylin put forward a 
classification from the developmental standpoint. This latter classification 
was supported by Taylor in 1936, and appears to be the most nearly natural 
yet advanced and is gradually receiving universal support. In this short 
review are briefly outlined the Taylor (1922) and the Setchell and 
Gardner (1925) classifications followed by a census of the known South 
Australian Brown Algae in the Kylin (1933) -Taylor (1936) classification so 
that the nature of each may be compared. 
