176 
SEA-WEEDS. 
pie layers of Great Britain are found on the 
coasts of the Falkland Islands ; and, though 
some of the northern weeds are not found 
in the intervening warm seas, they re-appear 
here. The Lessonia is the most remarkable 
marine plant in this group of islands. Its 
stems, much thicker than a man’s leg, and 
from 8 to 10 feet long, fix themselves by 
clasping fibres to the rocks beyond the high 
water mark. Many branches shoot upwards 
from these stems, from which long leaves 
droop into the water like willows. There 
are immense submarine forests off Patasronia 
and Tierra del Fuego, attached to the rocks 
at the bottom. These plants are so strong 
and buoyant, that they bring up large 
masses of stone ; and, as they grow slant¬ 
ing, and stretch along the surface of the 
sea, they are sometimes 300 feet long. The 
quantity of living creatures which inhabit 
these marine forests and the })arasitical 
weeds attached to them is inconceivable, 
they absolutely teem with life. Of the 
species of marine plants which are strictly 
antarctic, including those in the seas of ^ an 
Diemen’s Land and New Zealand, Dr. 
