Fig. no. POLYSIPHONIA FORMOSA. 
Colour. Full red ; becoming dark in drying. 
Substance. Exceedingly soft and flaccid. Soon decomposing in fresh water. 
Character of Frond. Long, dense tufts of jointed threads {filaments) ; exceedingly slender ; 
much branched. Branches partially forked {sid -dichotomous) ; long ; wavy ; bearing 
a second or third series ; branchlets scattered, spreading, feathery. Joints marked 
with two broad upright lines (internal tubes seen through). 
Internal Tubes. Four. 
Measurement. From 6 to 10 inches long. 
Fructification. Of two kinds. 1. Clustered spores in capsules; external. Capsules generally 
stalked, ovate, with a protruding mouth {urceolate). 2. Tetraspores immersed in the 
middle part of the last branchlets. 
Habitat. Our coasts generally. On rocks, &c. near low-water mark. Not so common as 
P. urceolata. 
Perhaps only a delicate and elegant variety of P. urceolata, but so flaccid that it is best 
laid out in sea-water. 
Fig. 111. POLYSIPHONIA OBSCURA. 
Colour. Dark brown-red ; nearly black in drying. 
Substance. Soft. 
Character of Frond. Densely matted patches of short, very slender, jointed threads (filaments) ; 
creeping on the surface of rocks ; attached by minute fibres which issue from the 
lower surface ; throwing up from the upper erect or curved, simple branches ; 
which are either naked or furnished with a few branchlets on one side (secund). 
Joints marked with many upright lines (internal tubes seen through). 
Internal Tubes. Twelve or thirteen. 
Measurement. Upright branches from J to J an inch long. Patches from 6 inches to 1 foot in 
extent. 
Fructification. Only one kind found. Tetraspores immersed in swollen branchlets. 
Habitat. Jersey and Sidmouth. On rocks at half-tide level. Sometimes parasitic on alg^ ; 
covering the roots of Fuci. 
Fig. 112. POLYSIPHONIA PULVINATA. 
Colour. Dull, brownish-red, or purplish ; not much darker in drying. 
Substance. Very soft and flaccid ; soon decomposing in fresh water. 
Character of Frond. Short, dense, intricate tufts of jointed threads (filaments) ; rising from 
a mass of creeping fibres. Filaments closely interwoven ; very slender ; wavy ; 
sparingly and irregularly branched, in a forked manner (dichotomously) \ more or less 
furnished with small, spreading, or back-curved (re-curved) simple branchlets. Joints 
marked with two upright lines (internal tubes). 
Internal Tubes. Four. 
Measurement. About an inch in height. 
Fructification. Of two kinds. 1. Clustered spores in very large, ovate, stalked capsules., with 
a protruding mouth (urceolate) ; external. 2. Tetraspores immersed in swollen 
branchlets. 
Habitat. Our coasts generally. On rocks and algge between tide-marks. Not uncommon. 
This looks like a miniature P. urceolata, but its substance is extremely flaccid. It should 
be laid out in sea-water. 
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