204 
young tetrasporangia frequently showing 
only one division. Sexual plants not seen. 
Found in Molii Pond, Oahu; Ilae, Kea- 
wanui, Kupeke, and Ualapue Ponds, Molo¬ 
kai, infrequently occurring, and with many 
epiphytic diatoms and Erythrotrichia earned. 
Distribution: In the tropics, northward to 
England (type locality). 
This species is a variable one, and perhaps 
these plants represent a distinct entity, but 
for the present it seems best to identify them 
with the species. All species of Gelidium 
are named "limu loloa” or "limu ekaha- 
kaha” by the Hawaiians. The species here 
noted has been questioned by Reed. Mac- 
Caughey lists the species. It does not seem 
to be either of the Gelidium spp. listed by 
Neal. 
Gelidium pusillum var. conchicola Piccone 
and Grunow in Piccone, Contribuzione 
all’algologia Eritrea, Nuovo Giornale Bot. 
Itah, 16: 316, 1884. 
Plants smaller than the species, to 3 mm. 
forming tufts, but inconspicuous. Blades 
flattened especially at the tips. Rhizomes 
with small colorless rhizoids. The plant is 
sterile. 
Fragment of plants from Molii Pond, as¬ 
sociated with Cladophora sp. and Polysi- 
phonia. Newly reported from the Hawaiian 
Islands. 
Distribution: Bermuda, Florida, Colom¬ 
bia. 
These plants agree favorably with de¬ 
scription and figures of Taylor (1928). 
Wurdemannia Harvey, 1853: 245 
Genus incertae sedis. Taylor, 1928, 1941, 
1943, 1945, lists the genus with the Geli- 
diales, but in 1940 lists it in the Cryptone- 
miales (Rhodophyllidaceae). Feldmann and 
Hamel, 1934, list it in the Gelidiales. 
Harvey (1853) and Boergesen (1919-20) 
list it as uncertain. 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. 1, October, 1947 
Wurdemannia miniata (Draparnaud) Feld¬ 
mann et Hamel in Revue Generate de Bo- 
tanique 46: 545, 1934 (see Fig. 6; Fig. 
lb). 
Wurdemannia setacea Harvey, Nereis Bor. 
Am. (2): 245, 1853. 
Fig. 6. Wurdemannia miniata (Drap.) Feld¬ 
mann et Hamel. Habit of plant. xiy 2 . 
Plants in thickly matted dark red tufts to 
4 cm. in height, attached to the substratum 
by numerous disk-shaped holdfasts from 
which run several cylindrical rhizomes. Main 
axis erect, sparingly branched, terete, and of 
firm consistency. The young branches show 
large medullary cells which become smaller 
toward the outside. Superficial cells are 
somewhat square and contain many chro- 
matophores. In surface view, these cells are 
small and irregularly shaped. 
Tetrasporangia are found in sori near the 
tips of the branches with few modified 
sterile filaments. The sporangia are zonately 
divided. Sexual plants are not known. 
Found in Molii, Oahu Island; Ilae and 
Keawanui, Molokai Island. 
Distribution: Mediterranean (Montpellier, 
type locality). Harvey’s plant was collected 
at Key West. It is also known in the Atlantic 
from the Brazilian coast northward to Ber¬ 
muda. 
Reported here for the first time from the 
Hawaiian Islands, and for the Pacific. 
When sexual plants are known, this spe¬ 
cies will probably be segregated from the 
Gelidiales because of its zonate tetrasporan¬ 
gia. 
