470 
Fucus inflatus f. edentata can grow in fairly exposed places and 
it can grow rather near high-water mark; but the higher the habitat 
and the more exposed the locality, the smaller the specimens. On 
the east coast of Stromo from Thorshavn southwards I have dis¬ 
tinctly observed this transition in process. Large vigorous examples 
of f. edentata occurred in the two small bays at Thorshavn at about 
low-water mark (the specimen figured in fig. 90 is from the latter 
locality). To southward of this the coast gradually grows more ex¬ 
posed, there is almost always some swell and the waves break 
almost continuously upon the shores which both enables Fucus 
inflatus to grow higher up and also reduces its size. On a gently 
inclined rock-face south of Arge I observed for the first time inter¬ 
mediate forms in different stages which distinctly illustrated the 
transition from f. edentata to f. disticha. The plants growing near 
low-water mark were fairly large, about one foot in length, but 
as they spread higher up the face of the rock they gradually 
grew smaller in all their parts until at the top at about high-water 
mark or somewhat above they were only a few inches long, or, in 
other words, occurred as Fucus distichus; while still further south¬ 
wards the coast becomes too exposed for f. edentata , and f. disticha 
only is met with. The latter form of Fucus inflatus is found in 
the most exposed localities along the Faeroese coasts, often in large 
quantities and frequently at a considerable height above sea-surface. 
The more exposed the locality, the more vigorously developed is 
its attachment-disc, which in specimens measuring 2—3 inches in 
length often attains to a size of V 2 an inch in transverse section; 
and the more graceful and elegant are its branches, while its 
receptacles also grow longer and more pointed, such particularly 
elegant specimens (fig. 93) were found by me, e. g. on Myggenaes, 
Muletangen, Vaags Ejde, Sumbo Holm., etc. 
While f. disticha always occurs on sloping rock-surfaces left 
dry at ebb-tide, f. linearis occurs between tide-marks in pools at 
high-levels. Situations adapted to the growth of this form seem to 
be rare along the Faeroese coasts. I have hitherto only found it 
near Famien on Sydero. The Faeroese specimens agree very well 
with the somewhat broader ones from Greenland which Rosen- 
vinge has referred to this form; I have not come across any 
Faeroese specimens which were quite thread-shaped. Forma linearis 
is distinguished from f. disticha by its branches being thinner and 
more flat, the colour usually somewhat paler and the shoots trans- 
