Fig. 73. SPHACELAEIA SCOPARIA. 
Colour. Olive-green wlien young ; when old, rusty and dark-brown. 
Substance. Eigid ; robust. 
Character of Frond. Bushy. Stem and branches jointed throughout ; thread-like {filiform). 
Stem shaggy at base ; robust ; irregularly branched ; the main divisions spreading at 
their summit into dense tufts of branchlets. Branches alternate ; re-branched twice 
or even three times. 
Measurement. From 2 to 4 inches long. 
Fructification. Globose seeds {spores) borne on the branchlets in winter. 
Habitat. Southern coasts of England, common. Frith of Forth. Irish coast in several 
places, but not common. 
This plant is prettiest in wnter, when so many of its crowded branches have died off, that 
it looks a much more suitable brother of S.flicma than in its shaggy summer state. 
Fig. 74. SPHACELAEIA PLUMOSA. 
Colour. Olive-green. 
Substance. Eigid, but delicate. 
Character of Frond. Delicately bushy. Stem and branches partially jointed ; thread-like' 
{filiforri). Stem not jointed ; many from one base ; smooth, longish, irregularly 
branched. Branches exactly opposite ; re-branched with short simple branchlets, 
like a feather {pinnate) \ tufted or scattered; from J to IJ inch long ; resembling 
feathers. 
Measurement. From 2 to 6 inches long. 
Fructification. Oval seeds {spores) borne on the branches in winter. 
Habitat. Several places from Orkney to the Land’s End ; but much more luxuriant in the 
north, and nowhere common. 
The branching is so irregular that specimens have often quite a ragged appearance. But 
it is a beautiful plant, and the resemblance to a tuft of feathers is striking. 
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