CRYPTOGAMIA. ALGAL Fucus. 
89 
Ed. 3 and 4. Halymenia palmata. Agard. Hook. E.) Rocks and stones 
in the sea, common. P. Jan.—Dec.* 
F. EDU f Lis. Flat wedge-sliaped, ribless, thick, very succulent. 
{Turn. Hist. 114— Hook. Fl.Lond. 72 — E. Bot. 1307. E.) 
Leaves arising many in succession, of different sizes, from a discoid base. It 
is as thick as leather, large, veinless, transparent. From a flat discoid base 
arise three to eight or more leaves of different sizes, and of different ages, 
the largest are from six to nine inches high, on a thick compressed, or 
nearly cylindrical stem. This stem suddenly dilates into a very wide, 
smooth, leather-like leaf, sometimes four or five inches over near the top, 
in shape like the lateral section of a wedge. When in fruit, the middle of 
the leaf betwixt the two coats is a vascular jelly, the vessels are annular 
tubes chained together. The surface at this time rises into conical pro¬ 
tuberances perforated at the top. (It sometimes grows the length of two 
feet. The perforations which are frequently observed upon it, are said by 
the Scotch fishermen to be caused by a species of crab which feeds upon 
it. Hooker. E.) 
Red Leathery Fucus. Halymenia edulis. Turn. Hook. E.) True Scotch 
Dulse, the Fucus scoticus, latissimus, edulis, dulcis. Ray Syn. 46. n. 30. 
(Leith shore, Dover, and North Wales. E. Bot. Common in Cornwall. 
E.)f 
(F. puncta'tus. Membranaceous, forked, segments broad, strap¬ 
shaped : fructifications in oblong spots. 
Turn. Hist. 71— E. Bot. 1573. 
Substance thin as gold-beaters’ skin; colour brownish, but perfectly pellucid. 
It arises from a flat knobby base, of a considerable size, extending to the 
height of six inches. It is forked in its mode of growth, the segments 
from one to one and a half inch broad, of the same breadth from one sub¬ 
division to another. The ends are subdivided into several strap-shaped 
segments about the breadth of a straw, half an inch long, and blunt or 
notched at the extremities. 
The fructifications appear in every part of the plant, except the termi¬ 
nating segments. They assume the shape of oblong spots, placed at 
pretty regular intervals, of a darker colour than the rest of the plant. 
These spots under the microscope are found to consist of dark red 
granules, or globules ; smooth and without any fruit-stalk. 
Dotted Fucus. Ulva punctata. Stackh. in Linn. Trans. {Delesseria 
punctata. Hook. E.) First discovered by Mr. Stackhouse, on the sands 
at Weymouth, very near the pier, at low water mark. 
* After being soaked in fresh water, it is eaten either boiled, or dried, and in the 
latter state has something of a violet flavour. It is sold in the streets of Dublin, being 
dried, and is said to kill worms. The poor in the North of Ireland eat it boiled. Rutty. 
(In Edinburgh it is eaten raw an hour or two before dinner. Smith. In the Archipelago 
it is added to ragouts, rendering them thick and gelatinous. Steller. Dr. Hooker 
informs us that this is the Dulse of the Scotch, who are fond of it fresh, and also use it 
dried and rolled as a substitute for tobacco. This is the Saccharine Fucus of the 
Icelanders, the efflorescence of which has a sweetish taste. It is dried by the natives, 
packed down in casks, and used as occasion requires, frequently cooked with butter. 
Cattle, sheep in particular, often eat this species with eagerness, whence it has been 
called Fucus ovinus. E.) 
*j* This species is eaten both raw, and after being pinched with hot irons, when it 
tastes like roasted oysters. Stackhouse. (A fine lake has been prepared from this plant 
by the aid of alum, and there is reason to expect it may prove serviceable in dying, E.) 
