Fig. 304. CLADOPHOEA RUDOLPHIANA. 
Colour. Bright yellow-green. 
Substance. Extremely soft and silky ; almost gelatinous ; adhering closely to paper. 
Character of Frond. Long tnfts of jointed threads (flametits), very much branched. Fila- 
ments exceedingly slender, inextricably entangled. Branches three-forked (triclio- 
tomous) or irregular ; repeatedly branched ; plentifully clothed with branchlets which 
are much divided and branched, almost tufted ; the last set very long and finely 
drawn out ; secund, or partly alternate. Tips very fine. 
Joints. Those of the main filaments many times as long as broad, here and there swollen. Of 
the branchlets from six to ten times. The colouring matter in them apt to take a 
spiral form. 
Measurement. From 6 to 20 inches long. 
Fructification. Minute seeds {zoospores) formed of the colouring matter in the joints, and in 
due time bursting through them. 
Habitat. A few stations on our coasts. In Eoundstone Bay plentiful. Connemara. Fal- 
mouth. On algse and Zostera in from two to six fathoms’ water. Very local, 
therefore rare. 
Ecsembling C. gracilis in the great length of the branchlets, but much slenderer and 
softer. In general appearance and the length of the joints like C. Balliana, but much more 
profusely branched, and differently. Not unlike C.alhida either; but from this the great 
length of the joints keeps it as clear as one Cladojjhora can be kept from another. But this is 
a genus abounding in intermediate forms, and, at present, in doubtful distinctions ! Perhaps 
le bon temps vicndra when these difl&culties will be cleared up. 
Fig. 305. CLADOPHOEA EEFEACTA. 
Colour. Bright green, sometimes yellowish. 
Substance. Bather rigid ; bristling ; imperfectly adhering to paper. 
Character of Frond. Tufts of jointed threads {filaments), very much branched. Filaments 
long ; slender ; the stems somewhat woven together and ropy. Secondary branches 
■ free ; spreading on all sides and much divided ; densely clothed with short, spreading 
or back-curved, opposite or alternate branchlets ; which are furnished on the inside 
with a second set arranged like the teeth of a comb {pectinated). 
Joints. Twice or thrice as long as broad throughout. 
Measurement. Three or 4 inches long. 
Fructification. Minute seeds {zoospoi^es) formed of the colouring matter in the joints, and in 
due time bursting through them. 
Habitat. Our coasts generally. In rocky pools left by the tide. Not uncommon. 
Nearly allied to C. alhida, but with coarser and far more rigid filaments ; also its last 
branchlets shorter and more wide-spread (often strongly bent back) ; and the whole plant by 
no means spongy. 
180 
