92 
The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol. VII, No. 5, 
pellicle is sloughed off. As in other kelps the sporangia do not 
develop simultaneously but one finds on sectioning a fruiting 
lamina (fig. 1 a), by the side of those which are nearly mature, 
many others much shorter and younger. The paraphyses, in 
the material studied, do not conform to the usual type in the 
Laminariaceae and instead of being clavate with heavy gelatin¬ 
ous tips are linear and without any thickening of the wall at the 
tip. Their chloroplasts are localized at a point a little back from 
the colorless tip forming a definite brown stratum above the tops 
of the sporangia. The discovery of such a character in Cvma- 
there is somewhat of a surprise for it was expected that the genus 
was like Laminaria in this respect, a fact which lead Kjellman 
’93 to ascribe to it in his key, the usual clavate paraphyses. 
Fig. 1 . a. Camera drawing of a portion of a fruiting lamina, show¬ 
ing sporangia and paraphyses. X 110. b. Camera drawing of a portion 
of a cross section of a stipe showing pith web and sclerenchyma. X 110. 
e-i. Diagramatic cross sections of the lamina to show the development 
of the plicae. 
In respect to the development of the pithweb Cymathere 
shows a great resemblance to Renjrewia parvula, contrasting 
strongly with the Laminarias as exemplified by L. bongardiana. 
The hyphal elements are very short, composed of short cells. 
Trumpet hyphae are very scarce and poorly developed (fig. 1 b). 
In this respect this genus is very much less highly developed 
than most of the Laminariaceae. 
The smallest specimen (fig. 2) of Cymathere found measures 
about 2 mm. in length. The identification of specimens of this 
size is, however, somewhat uncertain for I know no character to 
differentiate them from other kelps when so young. In this 
specimen the lamina is plane, only one cell in thickness, and oval 
in shape. The stipe is about half as long as the lamina and sev¬ 
eral cells thick; in its centre can be seen with a hand lens a faint 
narrow longitudinal streak composed of longer cells which prob¬ 
ably become the pith web. The holdfast of course is the primi¬ 
tive disc. 
