158 
Algae of Tasmania. 
\ 
hirtis; pinuulis penultiniis caeteris similibus, quoque nodo duos 
ramulos oppositos eraittenlibus ; ramulis byssoideis, tenuis- 
simis, alterne v. secunde divisis, apicibus elongatis, erectis; 
spheerosporis pedicellatis, ovalibus. 
George Town, V. D. L., R. Gunn, Esq., n. 1307, and 1303 
in part.—Frond 6-8 inches high, setaceous below, excessively 
branched in a regular pinnate manner, each successive pinnation 
being more slender than the last, till at the fifth or sixth the dia¬ 
meter is reduced to that byssoid fineness that requires a strong 
magnifying power to see it clearly. The scheme of branching is 
obviously by opposite patent branches or pinnae, repeated over 
and over again; but from some cause it happens that in by far 
the greater number of cases in the earlier development of the 
frond, one of these branches is either very much shorter than the 
other, or is reduced to a mere rudiment, or even altogether 
wanting; though its place is usually found occupied by a small 
ramulus. The main branches, and their divisions, therefore, are 
frequently alternate. The structure of the stem is peculiar, and 
something at variance with the genus, while it shows a transition 
to Crouania or Dudresnaia. It is composed of a bundle of fine 
longitudinal threads, glued together, and as if knotted or more 
firmly combined together at each joint or node from which the 
branches issue. In old parts it is wholly covered with short hair¬ 
like ramuli, but in younger parts these are confined to the nodes, 
which are 2 or 3 diameters apart from each other. This nodose 
structure is found in all the divisions till we come to the last 
where the frond is reduced to a byssoid fineness and a single tube. 
The last or extreme nodose-pinnules, besides the hair-like ramuli 
that clothe the nodes, throw out at each node a pair of opposite 
slender byssoid pinnulated ramuli, whose pinnules are either 
alternate or secund, erecto-patent, and bear along their upper 
face, from joint to joint, a row of pedicels, each of which supports 
a sphaerospore. Joints of the ramuli 4 times longer than broad. 
Colour a fine rosy red, not soon changing in fresh water, and 
well preserved in drying. Substance very tender and lubricous. 
—A noble species, and not likely to be confounded with any 
other. 
