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I.–THE MARINE ALGÆ OF NEW ENGLAND. 

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By Prof. W. G. FARLOW. 

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INTRODUCTION. 

This report is intended, with the exception of the Diatomes, to include all the marine 

species at present known to occur on the coast of the United States from New Jersey 

to Eastport, Me., and a few species are mentioned which, although they have not yet 

been found within our limits, are nevertheless to be expected from the fact that they 

occur on the neighboring coast of the British provinces. In preparing the report I 

have attempted to present, in a compact and more or less popular form, a description 

of the different orders and species of sea-weeds, so that persons who frequent the 

coast of New England, and especially those in the service of the Fish Commission, 

may have at hand the means of determining the forms found in our waters. The 

descriptive portion of the report is preceded by a short account of the general 

structure and classification of sea-weeds, which is necessary in the present case, 

because there is no generally accessible book in the English language which gives a 

good account of the modern views of the classification and structure of algæ. 

The list of papers relating directly to New England algæ is very meager. In January, 

1847, Prof. J. W. Bailey published in the American Journal of Arts and Sciences a 

paper entitled Notes on the Algæ of the United States. He enumerates 50 species 

found in New England, but some of the number are apparently erroneously credited 

to our coast. Two continuations of the article appeared in May, 1847, and July, 1848, 

in the former of which 19, and in the latter 17, species new to New England are 

enumerated. In 1847 Mr. S. T. Olney, in the Proceedings of the Providence Franklin 

Society, published a paper on Rhode Island Plants, in which he mentions 45 species 

of algæ. Most of the species in the papers above mentioned had been submitted to 

Prof. W. H. Harvey, of Dublin. The classic work of Harvey, the Nereis Boreali- 

Americana, of which the first two parts were published in the Smithsonian 

Contributions to Knowledge in 1852, and the third part in 1857, is the only elaborate 

account ever published with regard to the sea-weeds of the United States, and it has 

always been the standard authority on the subject. Since the appearance of Harvey's 

great work comparatively little has been added to our knowledge of the sea-weeds of 

New England. In the Report of the United States Fish

2 

THE MARINE ALGÆ OF NEW ENGLAND. 

Commission for 1870–’72 is a List of the Marine Algæ of the South Coast of New 

England, in which 103 species are enumerated; and in the report for 1875 is a List of 

the Marine Algæ of the United States, intended as a catalogue of the sea-weeds 

exhibited by the Commission at the Centennial Exposition, in which additions were 

made to the New England flora. Besides the papers referred to, I would mention 

Algæ Rhodiaceæ, by S. T. Olney, published in 1871; List of Marine Algæ Collected 

near Eastport, Me., by Prof. D. C. Eaton*; two papers by the writer in the 

Proceedings of the American Academy of Boston†; and List of the Marine Algæ 

growing in Long Island Sound within 20 miles of New Haven, by F. W. Hall‡. A 

series of dried specimens has been published conjointly by Dr. C. L. Anderson, Prof. 

D. C. Eaton, and myself, under the title of Algæ Am. Borealis. The 130 species 

already published, in three fasciculi of 30 sets each, contain a number of the more 

interesting New England forms. A set has been presented to the Fish Commission, 

and that, together with the large set prepared for the Centennial Exhibition, to be 

deposited hereafter in the National Museum, will place in the hands of the members 

of the Commission sufficient material to render the task of determining our species 

comparatively easy. 

It will be seen that we rely almost wholly on Harvey’s Nereis for our knowledge of 

New England algæ, and it is surprising that so few species have been added to the 

flora in recent years. Of the species recently added, by far the larger number are 

insignificant in size, the rare Nemastoma Bairdii being almost the only species 

which would attract the eye by its beauty. Professor Harvey himself spent but a few 

weeks on the New England coast, and we must either suppose that the collectors of 

Harvey’s time were more acute than those of the last few years, or else that the New 

England flora is very poor. That the flora is not very rich in species, even for a 

temperate region, is probably true, but it is too soon to assume that it is 

exceptionally poor. 

The number of species which are so large and striking as to attract the amateur 

collector is nowhere large in temperate regions, and the so-called richness of a flora 

is generally dependent upon the number of small and insignificant species, which 

are recognized only by those who make a careful microscopic study. One reason for 

the apparent poverty of our marine flora is that our collectors have generally been 

amateurs, who pass a few weeks upon the shore and gather only the more beautiful 

and striking species. The number of persons who make microscopic examinations of 

our algæ is, however, increasing, and, as a result, numbers of small, but interesting, 

species have within a short space of time been brought to light, and it now seems 

likely that the New England flora is by no means so poor as was formerly supposed. 

The severity 

*Trans. Conn. Acad., vol. ii, part 2, 1873. 

†List of the Marine Algæ of the United States, Proc. Am. Acad. Art. and Sci., vol. x (n. s. ii), p. 351. On some Algæ 

new to the United States, l. c., vol. xii (n. s. iv), p. 235. 

‡Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, vol. vi, No. 21, Sept., 1876.

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 3 

of the climate, too, renders it difficult to collect during the winter and early spring 

months, when the species to be found are to a great extent different from those 

which flourish in summer. A rich harvest might be expected by an algologist who 

should pass the winter and spring at some exposed point upon the coast. The 

summer species may be said to be tolerably well known, but our knowledge of the 

winter forms is very deficient. 

For the purpose of examining the algæ of the coast, I have visited Eastport, 

Portland, Cape Ann, Wood’s Holl, Mass., where I passed two summers with the 

Commission, Newport, Noank, Conn., and Greenport, L. I. Unfortunately, I have not 

been able to make any excursions during the winter months, except to the coast near 

Boston, at Nahant and Marblehead, and my knowledge of the winter species is 

derived from specimens sent by correspondents. 

In this connection I would express my sincere thanks to correspondents who have 

aided me by specimens and information, and I would acknowledge especially my 

obligations to Prof. D. C. Eaton, of New Haven; Mr. Horace Averill and Mr. A. R. 

Young, of Brooklyn; Mr. C. B. Fuller, of Portland; Mrs. A. L. Davis and Mrs. M. H. 

Bray, of Gloucester; Miss M. A. Booth, Mrs. Corcoran, Mrs. J. T. Lusk, Mrs. Beebe, 

Mr. F. S. Collins, and others, whose names are appended to the different species 

described. I am particularly indebted to the Fish Commission for their valuable aid 

in enabling me to dredge and collect in various interesting localities in Southern 

Massachusetts, at Noank, and at Gloucester, and to Mr. Alexander Agassiz for 

facilities for examining the coast at Newport. With the materials at hand I have 

attempted to review critically the species of our coast, and for this purpose it was 

necessary to compare them with the algæ not only of Great Britain, but of the other 

shores of Europe. I am, above all, indebted to Dr. Edouard Bornet, of Paris, who has 

constantly furnished information, both with regard to structure and nomenclature, 

without which it would have been impossible for me to form an accurate judgment 

concerning American species. I would also return my thanks to Prof. J. G. Agardh, of 

Lund; to Prof. J. E. Areschoug, Dr. W. B. Wittrock, and Dr. F. J. Kjellman, of 

Upsala, through whose kindness I have been able to examine very complete sets of 

Scandinavian and Arctic algæ, which have a special bearing on the New England 

flora; to Prof. E. Perceval Wright, of Dublin, who has obligingly allowed me to 

examine specimens in the Harveyan Herbarium at Trinity College; to M. A. Le Jolis, 

of Cherbourg, and Prof. J. T. Rostafinski, of Cracow, for valuable notes on 

Laminariæ; and to Mr. F. Hauck, of Trieste, for sets of Adriatic algæ. 

If we regard the marine vegetation of the northeastern coast of the United States as 

a whole, we see that, beginning at Eastport, we have a strongly marked arctic flora, 

which is a direct continuation of that of Greenland and Newfoundland. As we 

proceed southward towards Boston, although the luxuriance of growth is less, the 

general appearance

4 


of the flora is still unmistakably arctic, if we except a few sheltered localities. The 

northern shore of Cape Cod, from its sandy character, is practically destitute of all 

species of algæ, except a few forms which are here and there found growing on the 

eel-grass. As soon as we pass to the south of Cape Cod, however, the flora assumes 

an entirely different aspect. The arctic and Northern European forms have 

disappeared, except at a few exposed points like Gay Head and Montauk, and, in 

their place, we find a number of species, as Dasya elegans, Rhabdonia tenera, 

Chondria tenuissima, Sargassum vulgare, characteristic of warmer seas. 

The Long Island flora, which may be said to extend from Cape Cod to New Jersey, 

has a good deal in common with the northern part of the Adriatic. Among the more 

abundant species are Dasya elegans, Polysiphonia variegata, and, if we accept 

Zanardini’s view, our common Chondria Baileyana and Lomentaria Baileyana are 

identical with C. striolata and L. uncinata, all species common near Venice. From 

New Jersey to Charleston, if we except Norfolk and one or two points on the North 

Carolina coast, almost no sea-weeds are known, presumably on account of the 

unfavorable nature of the shore, although, it must be confessed, the coast has never 

been carefully explored. Even with regard to the coast of New Jersey we have but 

little information. A number of Florideæ, usually growing attached to eel-grass, has 

been reported from Beesley’s Point by Samuel Ashmead,* but it is almost certain 

that southward from that point, very little is to be expected. 

It will be seen that Cape Cod is the dividing line between a marked northern and a 

southern flora. In fact, the difference between the floræ of Massachusetts Bay and 

Buzzards Bay, which are only a few miles apart, is greater than the difference 

between those of Massachusetts Bay and the Bay of Fundy, or between those of 

Nantucket and Norfolk. This difference in the flora corresponds precisely with what 

is known of the fauna. That Cape Cod formed a dividing line was known to Harvey, 

and subsequent observation has only shown, on the one hand, that the flora north of 

Cape Cod is more decidedly arctic than he supposed, and that, on the other hand, 

south of the cape it is more decidedly that of warm seas. The general fact of the 

distinctness of the two floræ is not weakened by the knowledge that we now possess, 

owing to the investigations of the Fish Commission, of the existence in a few 

sheltered localities north of Cape Cod of some of the characteristic species of Long 

Island Sound, and in a few exposed spots south of the cape of northern species. Of 

the more common species found along the whole coast of New England, by far the 

greater part are also common in Europe, as Delesseria sinuosa, Corallina officinalis, 

Hildenbrandtia rosea, Polysiphonia violacea, P. fastigiata, P. nigrescens, P. 

urceolata, Rhodymenia palmata, Chondrus crispus, Cystoclonium purpurascens, 

Ahnfeltia plicata, Phyllophora Brodiæi, P. membranifolia, Polyides rotundus, 

Ceramium rubrum, Ptilota elegans, Leathesia tuberiformis, Chordaria 

* Vid, Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, vol vi, p. 147, vol. x, p. 8.


flagelliformis, C. divaricata Desmarestia aculeata, D. viridis, Phyllitis fascia, 

Scytosiphon lomentarius, the common Fuci and Laminariæ, not to mention a large 

number of Chlorosporeæ and Cryptophyceæ. But a very few exclusively American 

species are found throughout our limits. Most of the purely American species are 

either confined to the shore south of Cape Cod or else to the shore from Boston 

northward. In fact, a good share of our common sea-weeds could be recognized from 

the figures in the Phycologia Brittanica. 

Let us consider next the characteristic species between Boston and Eastport. In 

studying these we must turn not to works on the algæ of France, or Great Britain, 

but rather to those on Scandinavian algæ. It is especially instructive to examine the 

Algæ Scandinavieæ of Professor Areschoug in connection with our own forms. The 

resemblance is at once striking. At Eastport we have a magnificent growth of 

Laminariæ and Fuci, which predominate over all other forms. The larger species are 

even found high up on the shore, and we find growing in pools Saccorhiza 

dermatodea, Laminaria longicruris, Agarum Turneri‚ Dictyosiphon hippuroides, 

Halosaccion ramentaceum, and Monostroma Blytii; at low-water mark 

Lithothamnion fasciculatum abounds; and Euthora cristata, Delesseria sinuosa, D. 

alata, and Callithamnion Pylaisæi can easily be collected without wading. The rocks 

are covered with crusts of Petrocelis cruenta, and Ralfsia verrucosa, and the 

luxuriant Fucus evanescens. With the exception of Agarum Turneri, which is not 

found in Europe, but which occurs in the North Pacific, and C. Pylaisæi, which is 

peculiar to America, all the species named are found in the north of Norway. 

Euthora cristata does not appear south of Scotland, where it is rare, and Laminaria 

longicruris is scarcely known south of the northern part of Scotland. As we proceed 

southwards from Eastport to Nahant, near Boston, we find that the species named 

disappear into deeper water, and, with the exception of Monostroma Blyttii, are not 

generally seen except when washed ashore. Dictyosiphon hippuroides has not yet 

been seen south of Eastport, but Saccorhiza dermatodea, known to Harvey only from 

Newfoundland, is now known to occur at Marblehead, near Nahant, and Halosaccion 

is not rare in deep pools at Gloucester, while Monostroma Blyttii, in rather a small 

form, is found on exposed rocks at Little Nahant. Fucus evanescens, which is as 

abundant as F. vesiculosus at Eastport, seems to be replaced on the Massachusetts 

coast by F. furcatus. Calliblepharis ciliata of Harvey’s Nereis, found from Cape Ann 

northwards is now known to be the same as Rhodophyllis veprecula, a common 

species on northern coasts. As yet none of the Scandinavian species of Phlæospora 

have been found with us, but it is not unlikely that they might be found by a 

botanist who should collect at Eastport in the spring. It is hardly likely that 

Phlæospora tortilis does not occur with us, for it is not uncommon on the Norwegian 

coast, and was collected in Greenland by Dr. Kümlien, of the Howgate expedition. 

Polysiphonia arctica may perhaps also be expected, as well as Chætopteris plumosa,

6 


a common species of Greenland and Northern Europe. Odonthalia dentata, a 

common species of Northern Europe, has not yet been found within our limits, 

although it is common at Halifax. 

If north of Boston the principal feature of the marine vegetation is the enormous 

mass of large Fuci and Phæosporeæ, the Florideæ forming an insignificant part of 

the flora, the chief feature of the flora south of Cape Cod is the preponderance of 

Florideæ and the comparative insignificance of the Fuci and Phæosporeæ. In the 

ease of the sea-weeds of Long Island Sound we cannot so directly refer them to 

species of any part of Europe as was possible in the case of the northern flora. 

Several of the more common and striking species, as I have already said, are 

identical with or closely related to Adriatic forms. We are not, however to push the 

comparison too far. The development of Fuci and Laminariæ in Long Island Sound, 

although meager compared with what we find north of Boston, is far beyond 

anything we find in the Adriatic, and, on the other hand, we do not have in Long 

Island Sound the numerous Corallineæ and siphonaceous Chlorosporeæ, which are 

common in the Adriatic, and which unmistakably indicate a subtropical flora. 

Grinnellia americana, Dasya elegans, Rhabdonia tenera, Lomentaria Baileyana, 

Sargassum vulgare, and most of the common species of Long Island Sound, are 

found as far south as the West Indies. 

A consideration of the apparent exceptions to the law of the distribution of seaweeds 

on our coast is not without interest. In the cold waters off Gay Head and 

Block Island, Euthora cristata, in a depauperate form, is sometimes found, and at 

exposed points we find a decided growth of Laminariæ, especially the digitate forms. 

Ptilota serrata, a typical northern species, has also been found in a much reduced 

form at the Thimble Islands, near New Haven. 

In the town of Gloucester, near the village of Squam, is a small sheet of water called 

Goose Cove. The narrow entrance to the cove has been dammed up, and the water 

from the ocean enters only for a short time at the high tide. In this cove, to my 

surprise, I found Rhabdonia tenera, Gracilaria multipartita, Chondria Baileyana, 

and a large mass of Polysiphonia Harveyi and P. Olneyi. In short, the flora was 

entirely different from anything I had ever seen before north of Cape Cod, and 

entirely different from that of the adjacent shore, where the flora is entirely arctic. 

Furthermore, Squam is on the northern and inner side of Cape Ann, and as there is 

no connection of Goose Cove with the southern side of Cape Ann, and inasmuch as 

no vessels ever enter the cove, it is very difficult to account for the presence of the 

sea-weeds which grow there. The water which is confined by the dam is much 

warmer than that of the surrounding ocean, which would enable the species of warm 

waters to live if they were once introduced, but how are we to suppose that the 

spores were brought into the cove! It is hard to believe that they could have been 

brought by currents, for, as a matter of fact, the currents move in the wrong 

direction to produce such


an effect. Certainly, Rhabdonia tenera is quite unknown in any other spot north of 

Cape Cod, the nearest locality being the coast near Nantucket, and it is very difficult 

to conceive that spores of that delicate species would survive in a very cold current, 

which not only must carry them outside of Cape Cod and across Massachusetts Bay, 

but also around to the sheltered cove at the point where Cape Ann joins the 

mainland at the north. If we compare the exceptional case of Goose Cove in the 

north with Gay Head and Montauk in the south, it seems to be the rule that 

wherever the water is cold enough, we meet arctic species, and wherever it is warm 

enough we have Long Island species, regardless of the remoteness of localities where 

the species naturally abound, and, as far as we know, of the absence of currents to 

transport the spores. 

Our marine flora is marked by the complete absence of any members of the order 

Dictyotaceæ. Haliseris polypodioides has been found on the coast of North Carolina 

and, at Charleston, Padina pavonia begins to become common, but north of Norfolk 

not a single species of the order is known, the northern species referred by Harvey in 

the Nereis to the Dictyotaceæ being now known to belong to another order. Nor does 

any species of Tilopteris or Cutleria occur in New England. The absence of some of 

the common European genera of Florideæ is also worthy of notice. The genus 

Nitophyllum is entirely wanting north of North Carolina, and, although a species is 

said to have been collected off Cape Fear, and although N. ocellatum is occasionally 

found at Key West, this genus, which forms one of the more striking features of the 

European flora, may be said to be practically almost unknown anywhere on our 

Atlantic coast. Bonnemaisonia asparagoides, which occurs as far north as Norway, 

although rare, may perhaps be found with us. No species of Schizymenia or the 

related genera is found with us although the western coast is perhaps too rich in 

species of this perplexing group. Plocamium coccineum, one of the commonest red 

sea-weeds not only of Europe but of our west coast, is known with us in only one 

doubtful case. Gelidium corneum, which is abundant in almost all parts of the world, 

is only occasionally found in New England, and then only in the reduced form, 

separated by some as a distinct species, under the name of G. crinale. It may here be 

remarked that it is often a difficult matter to determine whether some of the more 

beautiful sea-weeds of Europe really occur with us or not. Our amateur collectors 

have frequently exchanged with European collectors, and one not unfrequently sees 

specimens of Plocamium coccineum, Callophyllis laciniata and other European 

species prized for their beauty, which are said to have been collected on our own 

coast. But inasmuch as no careful collector has found the species in question, I have 

considered it too unsafe to accept the statements of amateurs who, to my knowledge, 

have received specimens from Europe, and who, in general, are not accurate as to 

dates and localities. The preceding remark will not, however, apply to the species of 

Fucus and the coarser sea-weeds. Fucus serratus, very

8 


common in Europe, is very rare with us, having been found in but one locality in the 

United States and one in Nova Scotia. Fucus canaliculatus, Himanthalia lorea, and 

the common European Cystoseiræ are quite wanting. The nearly ubiquitous Codium 

tomentosum is a species which has not yet been found on our northern coast. On the 

other hand some species, as Spyridia filamentosa and Chordaria divaricata, are 

more abundant in New England than in Europe, and the same is probably true of 

Euthora cristata and Ptilota serrata, if we except perhaps the arctic zone. 

It is evident that a great deal remains to be done before we can say that we have as 

accurate a knowledge of our marine flora as we have of that of most European 

countries. Hereafter any advance in the knowledge of our marine algæ must be 

made by a careful microscopic study on the shore. Probably all the large and striking 

species are now known, or if any remain to be discovered their discovery will be by 

mere chance, and not by any systematic search. What is especially needed is 

information about our winter and spring forms, and this can be best obtained by 

persons who either live on the shore or spend several months there, so as to be able 

to take advantage of the comparatively few days for collecting, which occur in our 

severe winters. The habits and structure of our Laminariæ need careful 

examination, microscopic as well as in the gross. The whole order of the Phæosporeæ, 

in fact, which abound in spring, should be studied, especially the genus Ectocarpus 

and its allies. Our Cladophoræ are in great confusion, and in the present paper I 

have been able to contribute but little towards their proper arrangement. Several 

years of study are necessary for the purpose, and, in fact, the task cannot well be 

accomplished until the European species are better known. Our Ulveæ are not in 

much better condition. The Ulvæ proper, thanks to the elaborate account of the 

genus given in Le Jolis’s Liste des Algues Marines de Cherbourg, can be tolerably 

well made out; but the determination of some of the species of Monostroma is merely 

approximate. The Cryptophyceæ, which inhabit the shores and brackish localities, 

are very numerous, and a large number of forms probably remain to be discovered. A 

study of the last-named order is, moreover, not without a practical bearing, as is 

shown in another part of the report, by the fact that the cause of the so-called red 

fish is due to the growth of an alga of this order. It is probable that we have with us 

nearly all the European species of this order, and an excellent guide for our 

students, is the admirable paper by Warming on the Bacteria of the Danish Coast.* 

Another group requiring study is the Squamarieæ, a small order consisting of 

species, which form crusts on stones and shells, often in deep water. As a rule 

comparatively little in the way of sea-weeds is found by dredging; but an 

examination of shelly and gravelly bottoms for Squamariæ is to be desired. Dredging 

is most successful between 10 

*Om nogle ved Danmarks Kyster levende Bakterier, in Videns. Med. Natur. Foren., Copenhagen, 1875.


and 30 fathoms, and at a greater depth than 50 fathoms almost nothing is found. 

The oyster-beds of the coast should be carefully searched for Cutlerieæ and other 

sea-weeds found in similar localities in Europe. Finally, a thorough exploration of 

the tidal rivers and sheltered coves of the eastern coast of New England is much to 

be desired, in order that we may know to what extent the southern forms extend 

northward when they find sufficiently warm water and a suitable place of growth. 

From an economical point of view, but little need be said with regard to our seaweeds 

as an article of food. Chondrus crispus, the Irish moss, as it is called in this 

country, is the only species of any commercial value. It is collected in considerable 

quantities at several localities, but especially at Hingham, Mass. It is used for 

making sea-moss farine, and is also employed to some extent by brewers for 

clarifying beer. As yet the use of Porphyra vulgaris, the laver, one of the common 

species for making soups, has not been introduced. The Chinese employed in the 

shoe factories at North Adams, Mass., import the same species from China, not 

apparently knowing that they could obtain an abundance of it in Massachusetts. The 

dulse, Rhodymenia palmata, is sold to some extent in the seaport towns, especially 

in Boston, where it is eaten principally by sailors and the Irish population. It is 

generally imported from the British provinces, but it could be obtained in abundance 

anywhere north of Boston, or even in some places in Long Island Sound. The great 

use of our sea-weeds is for the purpose of making fertilizers, and immense quantities 

are carted from the beaches and spread over the land near the shore. Usage, 

however, varies at different localities, for at Eastport the larger sea-weeds, which 

are practically the same species that are highly esteemed in New Hampshire and 

Massachusetts, are considered of little value in comparison with animal manure. As 

far as I know, there are no manufactories of iodine or soda salts on our coast, 

although our species greatly resemble those used in Scotland for the purpose. The 

stem of the devil’s aprons, Laminariæ, are used by surgical-instrument makers in 

the manufacture of sponge-tents. 

Respectfully submitted. 

W. G. FARLOW. 

CAMBRIDGE, January 1, 1880. 

STRUCTURE AND CLASSIFICATION OF SEA-WEEDS. 

With a very few exceptions, all the plants of our coast which may be said really to 

grow in the water belong to the division of the vegetable kingdom known as the 

Cryptogams, or plants having no true flowers or seeds. Only two species of flowering 

plants are commonly found submerged in salt water, viz, Zostera marina, the saltwater 

eel-grass, and Ruppia maritima. The former is familiar to every one who has 

ever been to the shore, and is sometimes washed ashore in immense quantities

10 


The latter is a common species of brackish bays and coves. If we add Zannichellia 

palustris, a species closely related to Ruppia, and a few species of Potamogeton, 

which occasionally make their way into brackish-water ditches and streams, we 

have completed the list of flowering plants which the student of marine vegetation is 

likely to meet on our coast. Excepting the few flowering plants just named, and a few 

Characeæ, an order whose place is doubtful but which is now generally placed near 

the mosses, which probably inhabit our brackish waters, our marine flora consists 

wholly of Thallophytes, the lowest division of the Cryptogams, the species of which 

are supposed to be destitute of any true axis and leaves such as are found in the 

higher plants. The Thallophytes have been divided into three classes, Algæ, Fungi, 

and Lichens. This classification, as we shall see, is based on physiological rather 

than on morphological grounds, and is very far from being satisfactory; but, 

although new classifications have been proposed, which, in time, will almost 

certainly supersede the old, at present it is impossible to ignore the old divisions, 

which may be said rather to be convenient than to be based on accurate knowledge 

of structure and development. 

Of the three old groups, the Algæ may be described as Thallophytes which grow 

submerged in water or in wet places, which contain chlorophyl, or leaf-green, and 

which are able to transform inorganic into organic material, or, in other words, to 

support themselves from the inorganic matter about them. The Fungi do not grow 

submerged, do not contain chlorophyl, and are unable to change inorganic into 

organic matter, and hence must live as parasites upon bodies which contain 

organized matter. The Lichens were supposed by the older writers to be distinct from 

algæ and fungi, and characterized by having in their interior certain green bodies 

known as gonidia. It is to the first of the three divisions named, the algæ, that, with 

very few exceptions, all the strictly marine plants belong. How unscientific the 

division into algæ, fungi, and lichens is may be seen by the fact that on our coast 

there is one species of fungus which grows submerged in salt water, an undescribed 

species of Sphæria, which is parasitic on the stems of the large devil’s apron, 

Laminaria longicruris. A few species of lichens grow between tide-marks and several 

in places exposed to the spray. Verrucaria mucosa T. Fr. is abundant on our 

northern coast, and might be mistaken by a collector for Isactis plana. Verrucaria 

maura T. Fr., and one or two other Verrucariæ, are rather common near high-tide 

mark, but are not generally submerged. Practically speaking, then, when we speak 

of our sea-weeds we refer merely to the algæ, which constitute ninety-nine onehundredths 

of the flora. 

Harvey, in his Nereis, divided algæ into three classes, Melanospermeæ, 

Rhodospermeæ, and Chlorospermeæ. These three classes are distinguished by their 

color, the first being olive-brown, the second red or purple, the third green. This 

classification, which answered tolerably well for distinguishing the species at sight 

rests, [sic] upon what modern researches


have shown to be erroneous views with regard to the structure and development of 

the different species, and Harvey’s three classes no longer serve as a basis for 

classification. The Melanospermeæ and Chlorospermeæ are entirely rearranged, and 

although the Rhodospermeæ are still considered to form a natural group, the older 

name, Florideæ, employed by Agardh, is used to designate them. The basis of 

classification is the structure of the fruit and the organs of fructification, in the 

knowledge of which a great advance has been made during the last twenty years. 

CRYPTOPHYCEÆ.—The lowest of all the algæ are those which belong to the order 

Cryptophyceæ, in which, as yet, the only reproduction known is by means of nonsexual 

spores and hormogonia. Most of the species of the order are bluish green, but 

some are purplish, brown, or even pink. The bluish-green coloring matter is due to 

the presence of phycochrome, which is a mixture of chlorophyl and phycocyanin. The 

last is extracted by water when the algæ containing it are bruised, the chlorophyl 

being soluble in alcohol. The species of Cryptophyceæ consist of cells which are 

usually roundish, or disk-shaped, and which are generally held together by a mass of 

gelatinous substance which surrounds them. The order is divided into two 

suborders, according to the arrangement of the cells in relation to the jelly. The first 

suborder, the Chroococcaceæ includes all the species in which the cells are either 

isolated or arranged in amorphous or more or less spherical masses. Some of the 

species of this suborder are very small, and in some of the modern classifications are 

placed with the Bacteria, in the order Protophytes. The mode of growth of the 

Chroococcaceæ is by division of the cells, first into two, then into four, and so on. The 

masses which they form may be called colonies, each cell forming a distinct 

individual, which is usually capable of living apart from its fellows. Spores, which 

are known in only one species, are formed by some of the cells enlarging and taking 

on a thick cell-wall. Nothing like sexual reproduction is seen either in this or the 

next suborder. 

NOSTOCHINEÆ.—In the second suborder of the Cryptophyceæ, the Nostochineæ, the 

cells are always attached to one another in the form of filaments, to which the name 

of trichomata is given. The trichomata may either be free, as in Oscillaria (Pl. I, fig. 

5), inclosed in a sheath, as in Lyngbya (Pl. I, fig. 4), or packed in a dense mass of 

jelly, as in Rivularia (Pl. II, fig. 2). The cells composing the trichomata are usually 

disk-shaped or cylindrical, but are sometimes nearly spherical. 

Besides the ordinary cells, we find in many species a second kind of cell, 

distinguished from the others by its glassy appearance and its yellowish or brownish 

rather than bluish-green color. (Pl. I, fig. 3, a; fig. 6, b; Pl. II, figs. 1 and 2, a.) They 

are called heterocysts, and are found sometimes scattered amongst the other cells, 

and sometimes at the end of the trichomata, their position often serving as a generic 

character. The reproduction of the Nostochineæ takes place in two ways, by 

hormogonia

12 


and by spores. Both modes, however, are entirely of a non-sexual character. In the 

genera with numerous heterocysts, as Nostoc, the hormogonia are formed as follows: 

The cells intermediate between two heterocysts escape in the form of a small chain, 

called a hormogonium, and swim about with a spiral motion through the water. 

They at length become quiescent and begin to divide both transversely and 

longitudinally. Of the cells thus formed some become heterocysts, and in process of 

time a new Nostoc is formed. In the species destitute of heterocysts, or in which the 

heterocysts are few in number, the hormogonia are formed in a different manner. At 

certain points in the sheath of the trichoma constrictions are formed, and the cells 

between the constriction adhere to one another to form a hormogonium. We thus 

have formed a necklace of hormogonia, which are capable of moving upwards and 

downwards in the sheath until finally it is ruptured and the hormogonia make their 

escape. When free they are capable of moving about to a slight degree in the water, 

and eventually come to rest, and new heterocysts and trichomata are then formed by 

cell division. 

The so-called spores of the Nostochineæ are formed by the enlargement of some of 

the ordinary cells to several times their original length until they become ovoid or 

cylindrical (Pl. I, fig. 3, b). They are found in a number of genera but in a number of 

others they have not yet been observed. They usually occupy a fixed position with 

regard to the heterocyst, so that they are used as a generic mark. When ripe they 

have a dense outer covering and become at times quite dark colored. They are more 

resistant than the ordinary cells and do not usually germinate until after a period of 

rest. In germination, which has only been observed in a few instances, the outer wall 

of the spore bursts open and the contents grow out in the form of a filament, in 

which by transverse division the ordinary cells are formed. 

The Cryptophyceæ are algæ which flourish only in summer, but which can be found 

to some extent at all seasons. Most of them form slimy expansions on mud, wharves, 

stones, and on dead algæ. They are not often found submerged at any depth, but are 

most abundant near high-water mark. A few filamentous species attain a length of 

some inches but only one, Lyngbya majuscula, is sufficiently striking to have gained 

a popular name—mermaid’s hair. The species of Oscillaria, Spirulina, and 

Beggiatoa, are capable of oscillating rapidly, but in this respect the marine species 

are not so well marked as the species of fresh water. The Beggiatoæ which are found 

on putrefying algæ give off the disagreeable odor of sulphuretted hydrogen often 

noticed at the sea-shore in hot weather. The species of Cryptophyceæ are very widely 

diffused, and, with two exceptions, our forms are all common in Europe. 

ZOOSPOREÆ —This order includes not only the greater part of the Chlorospermeæ of 

Harvey’s Nereis, with the exception of the Oscillatoriaceæ, which belong to the 

Cryptophyceæ, but also the Laminariaceæ and all the Dictyotaceæ which Harvey 

attributes to the New England coast.


Although the species included in this large order differ from one another in size and 

habit to an extent that would certainly forbid their being placed together, if we 

considered merely the character of the frond, yet they resemble one another very 

closely in their mode of reproduction, which is accomplished by means of zoospores. 

The Zoosporeæ are divided into four suborders, the Chlorosporeæ, or 

Chlorozoosporeæ, as the name is sometimes written, the Phæosporeæ, or 

Phæozoosporeæ, the Bryopsideæ, and the Botrydieæ. The former are abundant in 

both fresh and salt water. They especially frequent brackish waters and high tidepools. 

The mass of the vegetation in brackish rivers is formed of species of this order. 

The species are either filamentous or else in the form of green membranes, as in the 

sea-lettuces, Ulvæ, which abound in muddy places between tide-marks. The contents 

of any of the cells may be transformed into zoospores, which escape from the mother 

cell usually at daybreak. The zoospores are of two kinds, microzoospores and 

macrozoospores. The latter are produced few in number in the mother cell, and when 

they have escaped into the water they are seen to be furnished with four cilia placed 

at one end, and with a dark red spot on one side. After swimming about for a short 

time they come to rest, the cilia disappear, a wall of cellulose is formed around the 

zoospore, which then begins to divide and produce a plant like that from which it 

came. The microzoospores are borne in considerable numbers in the mother cell, and 

when they escape they are seen to have only two cilia at one end, and a dark red 

spot on the side. The microzoospores, after swimming about a short time, approach 

one another in pairs, occasionally in threes, which in a short time coalesce so as to 

form a body known as the zygospore, or, to use a term first applied by Rostafinski, 

the isospore, which has four cilia and two dark red spots. The zygospore swims about 

for a short time, then comes to rest, takes on a cellulose wall, and begins to divide in 

the same manner as a macrospore. This process of union is called conjugation, and 

represents sexuality in its lowest form, it being impossible to say which of the 

conjugating bodies is male and which is female. It is only the microzoospores which 

come from different mother-cells which conjugate, but it is not quite certain whether 

the cells must belong to different individuals. The microzoospores, however, do not 

always conjugate. More frequently they do not, but, after swimming about 

separately for a short time, lose their cilia and begin to grow just like the 

macrozoospores. If one wishes to examine the zoospores, he has only at evening to 

put a piece of sea-lettuce into a vessel of salt water, and at daybreak the zoospores 

will have formed a green cloud in the water. If the cloud consists of microzoospores, 

it will collect in the vessel on the side nearest the light; if composed of 

macrozoospores, on the side away from the light. Conjugation was first observed in a 

marine species (Ulva) by Areschoug, but had previously been observed by 

Pringsheim in a fresh-water species (Pandorina). Since then conjugation of 

zoospores has been studied by several observers.

14 


BRYOPSIDEÆ.—In the present paper this suborder includes a single species of our 

coast, Bryopsis plumosa, which consist of a single cell of very large size, which 

branches in a pinnate fashion. When about to reproduce, some of the branches are 

shut off from the rest of the frond by a cell-wall, and the contents are then 

transformed into zoospores. A conjugation has not yet been seen in this species. 

From its unicellular structure one might suppose that Bryopsis should be placed 

near Vaucheria, but no oospores have yet been observed like those in the last-named 

genus. In the absence of a knowledge of the development of the genus, it is retained 

as a divsion [sic] of the Zoosporeæ, differing from the Chlorosporeæ in the unicellular 

character of the frond. 

BOTRYDIEÆ.—The development of Botrydium granulatum, which was fully studied by 

Rostafinski and Woronin, differs from that of the Chlorosporeæ which we have 

already described in the fact that there is first produced in the small unicellular 

frond of which this species is composed a number of round spores, or more properly 

zoosporangia, which are discharged from the mother cell. There is then formed in 

each zoosporangium a number of zoospores, which escape and conjugate with one 

another. De Bary and Strasburger have described a similar process in Acetabularia 

mediterranea, and have applied the name gameten to the zoospores which conjugate, 

and zygote to the body formed by conjugation. Secondary modes of reproduction by 

means of zoospores with a single cilium and so-called root-cells occur in Botrydium 

granulatum. Botrydium (Codiolum) gregarium, our only marine species, resembles 

B. granulatum, but its development has never been fully studied. 

PHÆOSPOREÆ.—The Phæosporeæ are all marine, with one possible exception, and are, 

when growing, of an olive-brown color. They possess only one form of zoospore, 

which is more or less oval and pointed at one end and olive-brown in color, and are 

furnished with two cilia attached at one side and a red spot. The zoospores are not 

born indefinitely in any cell, but are produced only in certain cells or sporangia. 

Each species is supposed to have two kinds of sporangia: one called the unilocular 

sporangium, which contains a large number of zoospores, and another, called the 

plurilocular sporangium, which consist of an aggregation of small cells, each of 

which contains a single zoospore. The name of oosporangia was originally given by 

Thuret to the unilocular sporangia because they are usually more or less oval in 

shape, but he afterwards abandoned the name because it is more appropriately 

applied to the spores of the Oosporeæ. The older name of trichosporangia, which was 

at first applied to the plurilocular sporangia, has also been abandoned. Although, as 

has been said, each species is supposed to have both kinds of sporangia, in a large 

number of species only one kind has as yet been observed. Both may occur on the 

same individual and at the same time, but more frequently they are found at 

different seasons of the year. Although found all over the world, the Phæosporeæ 

particularly affect the temperate and arctic regions, and they fruit more abundantly, 

as a rule, in winter


and spring than at other seasons, if we except a few genera, like Ectocarpus. The 

conjugation in this suborder was first seen by Areschoug in Dictyosiphon, and 

afterwards by Goebel in Ectocarpus pusillus. The zoospores unite in nearly the same 

way as in the Chlorosporeæ. According to Goebel, who studied the zoospores coming 

from plurilocular sporangia, the conjugation occurs between zoospores coming from 

different sporangia. The development of the zygospore and the action of the 

zoospores borne in the unilocular sporangia, except in the genus Dictyosiphon, are 

not yet satisfactorily known. Thuret and Bornet have seen bodies which they 

consider to be antheridia in several species of Ectocarpus, and Pringsheim at one 

time considered that he had found antheridia in a species of Sphacelaria. It is now 

admitted that the bodies found by Pringsheim belonged to a parasitic species of 

Chytridium, and Thuret and Bornet were unable to ascertain the development of the 

antheridia in Ectocarpus. At any rate, nothing like an oogonium or any female organ 

to be fertilized by the antherozoids has been found in the Phæosporeæ. 

As has already been hinted, the genera of Phæosporeæ differ from one another very 

widely in the structure of the frond. From low forms, consisting of short filaments, 

we pass upwards, through various cylindrical, crustaceous, and globose forms, to the 

highly developed devil’s aprons, Laminareæ, the largest of our sea-weeds; and, 

finally, on the coast of California and in the Antarctic Ocean, we find the perfection 

of the order in the enormous Macrocystis pyrifera, which is several hundred feet 

long; the Nereocystis or bladder-kelp of California; and Egregia, in which we have 

what appears to be a separate stem, leaves, bladders, and fruit-bearing leaves. 

Janczewski distinguishes three principal modes of growth of the thallus in 

Phæosporeæ. The first consist in growth from a single terminal cell, as in 

Sphacelaria, Cladostephus, and Dictyosiphon, resulting in the formation of a 

filamentous solid plant. The second mode consists in the simultaneous growth of 

several contiguous filaments at their tips, so as to form either a flat expansion, as in 

Myrionema and Ralfsia, or a more or less globular body, as in Leathesia. The third 

mode is illustrated by the genus Laminaria, in which there is a stalk, a blade, and 

root-like growths. The place of growth is at the point of union of stem and blade, and 

the new blade, which begins to form at the tip of the stem, grows upwards from the 

base and gradually pushes off the old blade. In Scytosiphon a similar mode of growth 

is found only here, there being no stalk, the growth is at the base of the plant. 

During a certain part of the year, especially in the spring, most of the Phæosporeæ 

are covered with delicate hairs, which disappear as the plant becomes old. 

The suborder contains a large number of species, which are divided into several 

families. Those found on our coast are the following: 

SCYTOSIPHONEÆ.—This family includes the two genera Scytosiphon and Phyllitis, 

which comprise the old Chorda lomentaria and Laminaria

16 


fascia, which were placed among the Laminariæ in the Nereis Am.-Bor. In Phyllitis 

the frond is membranous, and its whole surface is covered by the plurilocular 

sporangia which are formed from the superficial cells, which divide so as to form 

club-shaped filaments consisting of five or six cells, each one of which contains a 

zoospore. Scytosiphon resembles Phyllitis except that the frond, instead of being a 

flat membrane, is a hollow tube. There are no paraphyses in Phyllitis, but in 

Scytosiphon there are ovoidal cells interspersed among the plurilocular sporangia, 

which seem to be of the nature of paraphyses. No true unilocular sporangia are 

known in this family. 

PUNCTARIEÆ.—In this family we find both unilocular and plurilocular sporangia, 

which are formed in spots on the frond, and arise from the superficial cells. The 

former are spherical and the latter ellipsoid in outline, and divided into a number of 

small cells. 

DESMARESTIEÆ.—In the two preceding families the fronds were either flat membranes 

or hollow tubes. In the present there is a solid axis and numerous branches. The 

cells of the cortical layer are changed into unilocular sporangia. The plurilocular 

sporangia are unknown. 

DICTYOSIPHONEÆ.—In this family the fronds are solid and branching as in the last, and 

only the unilocular sporangia are known. They are in the form of large spherical 

cells, imbedded in the cortical layer and opening at the surface. Except that in 

Desmarestia the sporangia are formed directly from the superficial cells, while in 

Dictyosiphon they originate below the surface, this tribe scarcely differs from the 

last. 

ECTOCARPEÆ.—This family comprises a large number of filamentous algæ, upon 

whose branches are borne the sporangia. The plurilocular sporangia are usually in 

the form of pod-like branches, composed of a large number of small muriform cells, 

in each one of which is produced a zoospore. The unilocular sporangia are either 

globose bodies, borne on a short stalk, or else are formed by the direct enlargement 

of several contiguous cells of the branches. 

SPHACELARIEÆ.—This family is kept distinct from the last by Thuret. Both unilocular 

and plurilocular sporangia are known, and are similar to those of the Ectocarpeæ. If 

the two families are to be kept distinct, the reason must be that the fronds of the 

present order are solid, and the growth is by the means of a single terminal cell, 

which is not the case in the Ectocarpeæ. 

LEATHESIEÆ.—In the Leathesieæ and Chordarieæ the sporangia are distributed 

indefinitely over the frond, but in the succeeding families they are found in separate 

spots or bands. The Leathesieæ, in which we do not include Myrionema, are either in 

the form of small tufts, as in Elachistea, in gelatinous expansions of indefinite 

shape, as in Petrospongium, or in vesicular masses, as in Leathesia. The greater part 

of the frond consists of a cellular filamentous mass, upon the surface of which is 

borne a layer of short filaments composed of smaller cells. The unilocular


and plurilocular sporangia are borne at the base of the peripheral filaments. In 

Elachistea there are also paraphyses. 

CHORDARIEÆ.—In this family the branching frond is filamentous, and consists of an 

axis of longitudinal filaments and a peripheral series of short filaments, which are 

given off at right angles to the axis. The sporangia are found amongst the peripheral 

filaments, the unilocular are ovoidal, and the plurilocular arise from the 

metamorphosis of the cells at the outer extremity of the peripheral filaments. 

ASPEROCOCCEÆ.—The fronds of this family are the counterparts of those in the 

Scytosiphoneæ, but the sporangia, instead of being superficial, are external and do 

not cover the whole surface, but are found in spots. The spots contain paraphyses 

and spherical unilocular sporangia. 

RALFSIEÆ.—In this family, composed of very few species, the frond is in the form of a 

crust, resembling a lichen. The fruit is found on the surface in spots, composed of 

paraphyses and unicellular sporangia. 

SPOROCHNEÆ.—Here the frond is a solid branching filament and the fruit is found in 

spots on the surface. Each spot consists of a number of paraphyses, at the base of 

which are either oval unilocular sporangia or plurilocular sporangia in the form of 

short filaments, resembling the sporangia of Phyllitis. 

LAMINARIEÆ.—The family which includes the devil’s aprons and sea-colander of our 

coast. The fruit either forms long patches or more or less irregular spots along the 

center of the frond. Unicellular sporangia only are known. The sporangia are 

separated from one another by peculiar-shaped unicellular paraphyses, which are 

expanded at the top so as to cover the sporangia. 

OOSPOREÆ.—In the order Zoosporeæ the sexual reproduction consists in the direct 

union of two zoospores, which form a zygospore. The two conjugating zoospores, or 

gameten if we adopt De Bary’s nomenclature, are alike in structure, and it is 

impossible to say which is male and which is female. In the Cutlerieæ, of which no 

representative has as yet been found on our coast, we have algæ resembling the 

Phæosporeæ in habit, but differing from them in that their reproduction is of a 

higher grade. The Cutleriæ have both zoospores and antherozoids, or proper male 

organs. The zoospores are large, and are born singly in cells, which are united in 

eights into an oblong body. The antheridia borne on distinct individuals are also 

oblong in shape, but, instead of being divided into eight cells, they are formed of a 

much larger number of small cells, in each one of which an antherozoid is produced. 

The antherozoids are small oval bodies, almost colorless, and provided with two 

lateral cilia. In Cutleria collaris Reinke found that the zoospores after swimming 

about for some time, lost their cilia and came to rest. While at rest the antherozoids 

approached them, and he considered that the sexual union then took place. Here, 

then, we find a clear distinction of the sexes such as is nowhere found in the 

Zoosporeæ, and it is but a step higher to the Oosporeæ, in which we have a distinct 

male S. Mis. 59——2

18 


organ, the antherozoid, borne in an antheridium, and a female, called in this order 

the oogonuim. [sic] The order is divided into two suborders, in which, although the 

general plan of reproduction is the same, the details vary. 

VAUCHERIEÆ.—This suborder includes a number of species of green algæ which form 

dense turfs upon the mud in brackish ditches and rivers‚ or else loosely floating 

masses of green filaments. They may generally be recognized at sight by their deepgreen 

shining color and velvety appearance. They consist entirely of long green 

threads, which occasionally branch, but which are destitute of any cross-partitions 

except at the time of reproduction. The non-sexual reproduction is by means of 

zoospores. A cross-partition is formed near the end of a filament, and in the cell thus 

cut off from the rest of the plant a single very large zoospore is formed. In some 

species the zoospore escapes through an opening in the apex of the cell, and when 

free its whole surface is seen to be covered by a large number of vibratile cilia. In 

other species the cell containing the zoospore breaks off from the rest of the plant 

and the zoospore remains in a more or less passive condition. The antheridia grow 

from the sides of the filaments, and are either in the form of oblong, at times nearly 

sessile, cells, or else a lateral shoot is formed which ends in one or more convolute 

processes, at the tips of which a cell is cut off from the rest. The antherozoids are 

very small bodies with two cilia. The oogonia, or female organs, are generally 

situated near the antheridia, and are irregularly ovoid, with a blunt tip. The cell 

contents collect in a roundish mass at the center, called the oosphere, while at the tip 

of the oogonium is a mass of slimy substance. At the time of fertilization the 

antheridium opens and discharges the antherozoids and the tip of the oogonium 

opens to admit the antherozoids, which remain for a short time in the interior of the 

oogonium and then withdraw. The oogonium is then closed and, the oosphere, which 

before fertilization was merely a mass of protoplasm, has now formed around it a 

wall of cellulose, and ripens, forming an oospore. The oospore finally escapes from 

the oogonium and germinates. 

FUCACEÆ.—This suborder includes the rock-weeds, Fuci and Sargassum, of our 

coast, which constitute the bulk of the olive-brown sea-weeds found between tidemarks. 

The admirable paper of Thuret on the fertilization of Fucus leaves nothing to 

be desired on that subject, and his observations are now so widely known in this 

country that little need be said in this connection. In the two common rock-weeds of 

our coast, Fucus vesiculosus and F. nodosus, the two sexes are on distinct 

individuals. In F. evanescens and F. furcatus they are on the same individual. The 

Fuci fruit principally in winter and spring, but F. vesiculosus may be found in fruit 

throughout the year. In the last-named species, if we examine the swollen tips of the 

frond, we find certain granular bodies, which on section are seen to be sacks opening 

outwards. The sacks are called conceptacles. The male plant can generally be 

distinguished from the


female by the brighter color of the tips which bear the conceptacles. A section 

through the conceptacles of the male plant, as in Pl. IX, Fig. 2, shows a number of 

branching filaments which line the interior of the conceptacle. Attached to the 

filaments are oval bodies, the antheridia. The antheridia contain the antherozoids, 

which are ovate and provided with two cilia attached at the side. Usually about daybreak 

the antheridia discharge their antherozoids, which then swim about in the 

water until they reach the female plant. A section through the tip of a female plant 

shows a number of conceptacles similar in shape to those of the male plant. On the 

walls of the conceptacle there are paraphyses, and scattered among them are the 

oogonia, as shown in Pl. IX, Fig. 1. The oogonia are oval and seated on broad short 

pedicels. In Fucus vesiculosus the contents of the oogonia divide into eight 

oospheres, which are at first angular, but afterwards become spherical. The oogonia 

become free from their attachments, and the wall, which is really double, ruptures, 

and the oospheres escape into the water. In this condition they are merely spheres of 

protoplasm. The antheridia then collect around the oospheres in large numbers, and 

the mass begins to rotate. The rotation continues for a short time, and when it 

ceases the antherozoids withdraw and soon perish. It is not yet certain whether one 

or more of the antherozoids really penetrates into the substance of the oosphere 

during the revolutions. As soon as it comes to rest the oosphere takes on a cell-wall 

of cellulose and becomes an oospore, which after an interval of rest begins to divide 

so as to form eventually a new frond. 

DICTYOTEÆ.—Although no members of this order are known on our coast north of 

North Carolina, the order cannot pass unnoticed in the present article, because it 

forms a connecting link between the Fucaceæ and Phæosporeæ on one hand and the 

Florideæ on the other. The species are olive-brown and form expanded membranous 

fronds. Three kinds of reproductive organs are known, antheridia, spores, and 

tetraspores. All are formed by outgrowths from the superficial cells. The tetraspores 

are formed, as the name implies, in fours in a mother cell, from which they escape 

and then readily germinate. The spores are borne singly in a mother cell. The 

antheridia are composed of a number of oblong cells, which become divided by 

numerous longitudinal and transverse divisions into small cells, each of which 

contains an antherozoid. The Dictyotaceæ resemble the Florideæ in having 

tetraspores and spores which germinate without first passing through a zoosporic 

condition. The action of the antherozoids is at present unknown, and the spores of 

this order cannot be the product of a fertilization such as we find in the Florideæ. 

FLORIDEÆ.—This order is the same as the Rhodospermeæ of Harvey’s Nereis. The 

species composing it form a very natural group, and are, with the exception of a few 

genera, entirely marine. Their color is always some shade of red or purple when they 

are growing in their

20 


normal condition. When, however, they grow in positions where they are much 

exposed to the light they become green, and in decaying they pass through various 

shades of orange and yellow to green. Their favorite place of growth is below lowwater 

mark and in deeper water, but some species grow in tide-pools. The fronds 

vary in structure in the different genera, but as a rule they are less complicated than 

the fronds of the Fuci and Laminarieæ. The non-sexual mode of growth is by means 

of bodies called tetraspores, formed by the division of a single cell into four parts. 

The divisions may be at right angles to one another, when the tetraspore is said to 

be cruciate; they may be parallel to each other, in which case the tetraspore is said 

to be zonate; or they may be arranged as in Pl. XI, Fig. 1 a, when it is said to be 

tripartite. The tetraspores may either be isolated or collected in wart-like masses, 

called nemathecia. The individuals which bear the tetraspores are, with rare 

exceptions, distinct from those which bear the sexual fruit or cystocarps. 

Occasionally both kinds are found on the same individual, as sometimes happens in 

Callithamnion Baileyi and Spyridia filamentosa. The tetrasporic plants, taking the 

order as a whole, are decidedly more abundant than those which bear the 

cystocarps. The sexual fruit, called the cystocarp, is formed by the action of 

antherozoids upon a structure called the trichogyne, which forms a part of the 

procarpe. The antherozoids are small colorless spheres, destitute of cilia. They are 

borne singly in cells, which are agglomerated in various forms, which differ in the 

different genera, but are usually either in the shape of short, dense tufts, or else are 

siliculose in outline. In Chondria the antheridia cover the surface of irregular disklike 

branches, and in membranous genera they form spots on the surface. 

The name of procarpe was given by Bornet and Thuret to the collection of different 

cells, of which the female organ is composed before fertilization. The procarpes are 

borne on the younger parts of the frond generally near the surface. The cells of 

which they are composed may be divided into two sets—those which take part in the 

act of fertilization and those from which the spores are formed. The former consists 

of the trichogyne, a long, slender, hyaline hair, at whose base is the trichophore. The 

latter set, called by Thuret and Bornet the carpogenic cell or system, varies in the 

different genera, and is in most cases too complicated to be explained in the present 

article. In the simplest genera, as in Nemalion and Batrachospermum, the 

antherozoids come in contact with the extremity of the trichogyne, where they 

remain fixed for a considerable time. The contents of the antherozoid, or 

antherozoids—for more than one may be attached to the trichogyne—pass into the 

trichogyne, and, in consequence of this action, a change takes place in the 

trichophore, which divides, the divisions growing into short filaments, which are 

formed into chains of spores by transverse divisions. In this case the trichophore 

represents the carpogenic cell. In Nemalion the cystocarpic fruit is a globular mass 

of spores, arranged in filaments


and destitute of any general envelope. In by far the greater number of genera the 

spores are not formed by direct outgrowths from the trichophore. In Callithamnion, 

for instance, the fertilizing influence is propagated from the trichogyne, through the 

trichophore and the cells below it which constitute the trichophoric apparatus, to 

certain lateral cells, from which by repeated cell-division the spores are formed. In 

Dudresnaya the cells of the trichophoric apparatus send out a number of lateral 

tubes‚ which, in turn, convey the fertilizing impulse to certain modified branches in 

other parts of the frond, so that, in reality, the cystocarp is formed at some distance 

from the trichogyne by means of which it has been indirectly fertilized. A similar 

mode of fertilization is known in Polyides and, according to Professor Schmitz, in the 

Squamarieæ. The cystocarps are sometimes naked, that is, without a special 

membranous envelope, as in Nemalion, but they not infrequently are contained in a 

conceptacle or pericarp. In the latter case, the development can only be studied with 

difficulty, because the conceptacle, which originates from some of the cells below the 

trichophore, develops more rapidly than the rest of the cystocarp, and so shuts out 

from view the process of the formation of the spores. It is impossible in the present 

article to enter into the details of the development of the cystocarp in this 

complicated order, but the reader interested in the subject is referred to the superb 

work of Thuret and Bornet, Études Phycologiques, and the hardly less admirable 

Notes Algologiques, of the same authors, for a masterly exposition of the subject. 

MODE OF COLLECTING AND PREPARING SEA-WEEDS. 

The collector of sea-weeds should be provided with a pail of tin or wood, or, better 

still, with one of papier maché if it can be procured, in which he should place a 

number of large wide-mouthed bottles and several small bottles, and one or two vials 

filled with alcohol should not be forgotten. A knife is needed for scraping crustaceous 

algæ from stones, and a geologist’s hammer and chisel are often useful. A hand-net, 

with a long, stout, jointless pole and net with small meshes is a necessity. Clothes 

for wading are also indispensable, since the best collecting grounds are below lowwater 

mark. If the collector is not already sufficiently encumbered, he may throw a 

common botanical collecting-box over his shoulder, as it will serve to carry the 

coarser species. Collecting on sandy or gravelly beaches is very simple. One finds 

there only the Florideæ and larger brown sea-weeds which are washed ashore after a 

storm. It is only necessary to pull over the heaps of refuse at high-water mark, or to 

dip up with a net the specimens which are floating at low-water. Collecting on 

beaches is uncertain, because it is only at certain times that specimens are washed 

ashore. On rocky shores, on wharves, and on the eel-grass we are always sure to find 

something. One should examine the surface of rocks wet with the spray, the bases of 

the stalks of the marsh-grasses, and even the surface of mud which is

22 


overflowed at high tide. Here one will find an abundance of Cryptophyceæ and some 

Chlorosporeæ. Pools, more especially rocky pools, are rich in Chlorosporeæ and the 

filamentous Phæosporeæ. The richest locality is just beyond low-water mark, 

especially at the spring tides. One should carefully scrape old wharves and piers. 

This is best done at low tide from a boat. A long-handled net with a scraper on one 

side is the best thing, but any stout net will do. By scraping old wood-work which 

looks very unpromising one sometimes gets the rarer Callthamniai and other 

delicate algæ. A number of interesting species are also to be found growing on eelgrass, 

which may be reached at low tide by wading, or, better still, by boat. 

For botanical purposes the dredge is not of very great service. One sometimes 

secures by its means rare species, but, as a rule, a day of dredging is a day wasted. 

Most algæ grow on rocky bottoms where the dredge does not work well, in fact not so 

well as grappling hooks. The best opportunity for dredging is on a shelly bottom, 

where several rare species are found. Good specimens are not unfrequently brought 

up by fishermen on their nets. The different species when collected should be 

cleaned of sand and small animals and placed in bottles, each species in a separate 

bottle. This is absolutely necessary in case of genera like Cladophora and 

Ectocarpus, which would otherwise be hopelessly entangled. The small specimens 

and those to be kept for microscopic study should be put into alchohol [sic]. The 

coarse species which are merely to be mounted and are not to be studied should be 

put dry into the pail. Anything to be studied should be kept in plenty of water, or, if 

not to be studied in a short time, be put immediately into alcohol. It is, however, 

useless to put into alcohol large quantities of sterile specimens of genera, like 

Cladophora, the species of which are characterized by their branching and not by 

microscopic structure. Sea-weeds are best mounted in salt water, that is, in this way 

they are in a more natural condition for after-study, and if one is able to procure 

plenty of salt water it is best always to mount in it. However, one may be stopping at 

a distance from the shore, in which case it is possible to make use of fresh water. 

Besides, if salt water is used continually the driers become saturated with salt, and 

it is then impossible to prepare specimens in the damp weather so frequent at the 

sea-shore. As a matter of economy, one had better mount only the finer and most 

important specimens in salt water and the rest in fresh water. 

The larger sea-weeds, as the rock-weeds and devil’s aprons, should be allowed to 

soak several hours in fresh water before being mounted. They can then be pressed in 

the same way as flowering plants, and, when dried, mounted on the ordinary 

herbarium sheets. If a number of large specimens are to be prepared, it is best to 

hang the plants up as soon as they are gathered and allow them to dry, and they can 

afterwards be soaked out at leisure in fresh water. The collector should know that 

there are probably no plants which so quickly spoil driers as the species


of rock-weed. For mounting the smaller species one-should have two or three shallow 

dishes of salt water, in which the plants are to be washed and floated out, and a 

deep basin of either salt or fresh water, as the case may be, for mounting. A zinc 

tank, one of whose sides is slanting, is convenient for mounting, but is rather an 

awkward thing to carry about in travelling. The specimens to be mounted are put 

into the basin and floated out; a piece of paper is slipped under them and they are 

lifted out of the water. A moderately thick unglazed paper is best for mounting, 

although almost any kind will do, provided it is not very thin. Many ladies make use 

of photographers cards. 

With a little practice it is perfectly easy to remove sea-weeds from the water, but to 

prevent the specimen slipping off the paper or to one side of the paper it is best to 

put the middle finger under the center of the paper and raise it so that the water 

drains off equally on all sides. Some slip a pane of glass under the paper, and lift it 

out of the water in that way. The papers should then be left in an inclined position 

for a short time, so that the superfluous water may run off. They are then to be put 

on the driers and covered with a piece of muslin or other thin white cloth, from 

which the glazing has been removed by washing. Very gelatinous specimens should 

be exposed for some time to the air before pressing. The driers should be of bibulous 

paper and the best material, but unfortunately the most expensive, is thick white 

blotting-paper. The specimens are to be laid on the paper and covered with a cloth, 

and then another layer of paper is placed above, and so on. The best form of press is 

a board with a number of stones for weights. The driers should be changed morning 

and night until the specimens are dry. Some of the smaller species dry in a few 

hours; others require two or three days. Great pressure is to be avoided, and the 

specimens, if prepared in fresh water, should not be allowed to remain long in the 

water. Most small species adhere to the papers naturally; others require to be 

fastened with gum. Besides mounting specimens on paper, it is a very good plan to 

prepare specimens of fruit or any small filamentous species on pieces of mica or 

glass. Fragments of mica good enough for the purpose can be obtained for a very 

small sum of those who manufacture air-tight stoves. Specimens prepared on mica 

can be moistened and at once used for microscopic study. All really microscopic 

forms, such as Glœocapsa, Clathrocystis, &c., had better be mounted on mica or 

glass than on paper. A difficulty is experienced in preparing corallines and other 

calcareous forms. If prepared in the same way as other sea-weeds, they become very 

brittle, and are often ruined by transportation. Various means have been devised for 

making them less brittle—such as painting them with a thin solution of gum. A 

better method is to paint them with a hot solution of isinglass which has been boiled 

for a few moments in alcohol. The habit may be preserved, although the structure is 

somewhat injured, by immersing corallines

24 


for a short time in some dilute acid, which, by removing the calcareous matter, 

renders the specimens more flexible. 

As we have said, selected material for future study should be put into alcohol. 

Several other preserving fluids have been recommended, but none in the long run do 

as well as alcohol. Some species do well in glycerine, especially parasites like 

Streblonema and Bulbocoleon, which grow in the fronds of other species. A one per 

cent. solution of osmic acid is a favorite preserving fluid of some botanists. Certain 

sea-weeds, as the Phæosporeæ, can be mounted for the microscope in almost any of 

the ordinary mounting fluids, and keep very well. The Florideæ, on the other hand, 

do not keep at all well, and after a few months the preparations begin to spoil. A 

saturated solution of calcic chloride, a mixture of glycerine and acetic acid, half and 

half, boiled and filtered, weak solutions of carbolic acid, or a one per cent. solution of 

osmic acid are all about equally good for mounting algæ. As we have said, 

Phæosporeæ generally do well and Florideæ badly, but one sometimes has success 

even with the latter.


ORDERS AND SUBORDERS* 

OF 

MARINE ALGÆ OF NEW EN GLAND. 

Suborder CHROOCOCCACEÆ. 

NOSTOCHINEÆ. 

Suborder CHLOROSPOREÆ. 

ORDER I. CRYPTOPHYCEÆ. 

ORDER II. ZOOSPOREÆ. 

BRYOPSIDEÆ. BOTRYDIEÆ. PHÆOSPOREÆ. 

Suborder VAUCHERIEÆ. 

FUCACEÆ. 

Suborder PORPHYREÆ. 

ORDER III. OOSPOREÆ. 

ORDER IV. FLORIDEÆ. 

SQUAMARIEÆ. NEMALIEÆ. SPERMOTHAMNIEÆ. CERAMIEÆ. SPYRIDIEÆ. 

CRYPTONEMIEÆ. DUMONTIEÆ. GIGARTINEÆ. RHODYMENIEÆ. 

SPONGIOCARPEÆ. GELIDIEÆ. HYPNEÆ. SOLIERIEÆ. 

SPHÆROCOCCOIDEÆ. RHODOMELEÆ. CORALLINEÆ. 

*An artificial key to the genera of New England algæ will be found at the end of this paper.

26 


ORDER I. CRYPTOPHYCEÆ, THURET. 

Algæ composed of cells which are either isolated or imbedded in mucus, so as to form 

colonies, or united in the form of filaments. Color usually bluish green, sometimes 

brown, purple, or pink. Reproduction by hormogonia or non-sexual spores. Sexual 

reproduction unknown. 

We have retained the name given by Thuret, in Le Jolis’s Liste des Algues Marines de Cherbourg, to 

the group of low algæ in which sexual reproduction is unknown. Our species belong to the Schizophytæ 

of Cohn (Beiträge zur Biologie der Pflanzen, Vol. I, p. 202), which also includes the minute forms 

commonly known as Bacteria. Most of the species here enumerated are bluish green, owing to the 

presence of phycochrome, and would be placed by some writers in the order Phycochromaceæ. Some are 

destitute of phycochrome and have been placed by different writers in the Chroococcaceæ and 

Palmellaceæ. Nægeli, in Die Niederen Pilze, is of the opinion that the Bacteria should not be classed 

with the Phycochromaceæ, as in the Schizophytæ of Cohn, but one cannot expect to make a satisfactory 

classification of forms in which no sexual reproduction has, as yet, been discovered. The Protophytes of 

Sachs’s Text-Book include all the Schizophytæ of Cohn, together with the Palmellaceæ and 

Saccharomycetes. From the nature of the plants themselves, none of the above classifications can be 

considered of decided scientific value, and, regarding the question of convenience alone, we have 

adopted the name Cryptophyceæ as expressing sufficiently well all the marine Protophytes of our coast, 

whether they contain phycochrome or not. The order is divided into two suborders, as follows: 

a. Cells free, or united by a gelatinous intercellular substance into families which never 

form true filaments............................................ CHROOCOCCACEÆ. 

b. Cells arranged in filaments...................................... NOSTOCHINEÆ. 

SUBORDER CHROOCOCCACEÆ. 

(Glæogenæ, Cohn in part.) 

1. Cells free or united in twos or fours ..........................Chroococcus. 

2. Cells united by a mucous intercellular substance into amorphous 

[NOTE.—In the following descriptive part of the present paper the synonymy of the species is carried 

only so far as to enable the reader, in the first place, to recognize the more common synonyms and also 

the works in which the synonymy is given in full, and, in the second place, to give a reference to the 

more accessible works in which the different species are figured. Of the latter frequent reference is 

made to the Nereis Boreali-Americana and Phycologia Brittanica of Harvey, to the Études 

Phycologiques and Notes Algologiques of Bornet and Thuret, and the Tabulæ Phycologicæ of Kützing. 

For a list of descriptive works consulted the reader is referred to the end of this paper. 

All microscopic measurements are given in fractions of a millimeter, but gross measurements of objects 

more than half an inch in diameter are given in feet and inches, as the divisions of the meter are not, in 

this country, readily applied to objects which can be seen by the naked eye. 

Unless otherwise stated, the localities given are those in which the writer himself has collected the 

species, but in the case of common species it has been considered unnecessary to give special localities.]


colonies. Intercellular substance generally forming concentric layers around the cells 

.................................................................................Glœocapsa. 

3. Cells united in colonies of definite shape. 

a. Cells arranged in the form of an irregular sphere, which becomes finally hollow and 

net-shaped................................................................. Clathrocystis. 

b. Cells arranged in several layers forming a solid spheroidal body. 

Polycystis. 

c. Cells united in branching dendritic masses ............ Entophysalis. 

CHROOCOCCUS, Næg. 

[sic] ((From χροοσ [croos], the color of the body, and κοκκοσ [kokkos], a berry.) 

Cell division taking place in all directions, cells spherical, solitary, or united in twos 

or some multiple of two, free, i.e., not united into families by means of an 

intercellular substance. 

According to Nægeli, the principal distinction between Chroococcus and Glœocapsa lies in the fact that 

in the former genus the cell-wall is thin, while in the latter it is thick and formed of concentric layers. 

This difference, however, is not constant, as in Chroococcus turgidus the cell-wall is comparatively 

thick, whereas in Glœocapsa crepidinum the cell-wall is reduced to a minimum. A more characteristic 

distinction seems rather to be the existence of an intercellular substance in Glœocapsa which binds the 

cells together, but which is wanting in Chroococcus. 

C. TURGIDUS, Næg. (Protococcus, Kütz., Tab. Phyc., Vol. I, Pl. 6, Fig. 1.— 

Hæmatococcus binalis, Hassal, Fresh-water Algæ, p. 331, Pl. 82, Fig. 2.) 

Cells bluish green, oval, usually single or binate, about .02 mm to .025 mm in diameter, 

surrounded by a thick cell-wall. 

Cape Ann, Mrs. A. L. Davis; Europe. Fresh water and marine. 

Found on slimy rocks and piers upon which species of Calothrix, Lyngbya, &c., are growing. Probably 

common throughout New England. The size of the cells varies very much. What we have given above is 

an average measurement. 

GLŒOCAPSA, (Kütz.) Næg. 

(From γλοιοσ gloios], sticky, and καψα [kapsa], a box.) 

Cell division taking place in all directions, cells spherical, with thick walls, solitary 

or united in families, which are surrounded by a gelatinous substance which is 

generally in concentric layers around the cells. Spores known only in G. stegophila, 

Itzigs. (G. Itzigsohnii, Bornet mscr.). 

This genus, if we adopt the views of the advocates of Schwendener’s theory, forms the gonidia of the 

lichen genera Synalissa, Omphalaria, &c. 

G. CREPIDINUM, Thuret, Notes Algologiques, p. 2, Pl. I, Figs. 1-3. (Protococcus, 

Thuret, in Mém. Soc. Natur. Cherbourg, Vol. II, p. 388; Le Jolis, Liste des Algues 

Marines de Cherbourg, p. 25; Farlow, List

28 


of Marine Algæ, 1876.—Pleurococcus, Rab.‚ Flora Europ. Alg., Sec. III, p. 25.) Pl. I, 

Fig. 1. 

Cells spheroidal, yellow, about .0035 mm to .005 mm in diameter, imbedded in an olivebrown 

gelatinous stratum, occasionally single, usually united in twos or some 

multiple of four. 

Eastport, Maine; Gloucester, Mass.; Newport, R. I.; northern coast of France. 

We found this species abundant in October, 1875, on the wharves of Eastport, where it formed thin 

gelatinous layers of a dark-brown color at high-water mark. It probably occurs at high-water mark on 

wharves along our whole coast. This species is said by Thuret to form the gonidia of Verrucaria 

halodytes, Nyl., a species which we are informed by Prof. Tuckerman is not known to lichenologists in 

this country. In the present species the concentric layers of the gelatinous envelope of the cells is 

wanting. The color of the cells is quite constantly brownish yellow, but occasionally they become dark 

green. The average diameter of the cells in American specimens seems to be slightly less than Thuret’s 

measurement. 

POLYCYSTIS, Kütz. 

(From πολυσ [polus], many, κυστισ [kystis], a bladder.) 

Cells spherical, densely aggregated, united by an intercellular mucus into solid 

masses. 

In this genus we include Microcystis of Kützing, in which the colonies are isolated 

and not united in botryoidal masses, one being evidently an immature state of the 

other. 

P. ELABENS, Kütz. (Microcystis, Kütz., Tab. Phyc.‚ Vol. I, Pl. 8, Fig. 1.) 

Cells bluish green, oblong, about .004 mm in diameter, closely packed in solid colonies, 

which are aggregated in botryoidal masses. 

Wood’s Holl, Mass.; Europe. 

Common in summer on decaying algæ, over which it forms slimy masses, mixed with species of 

Lyngbya, Microcoleus, &c. 

P. PALLIDA, (Kütz.). 

Cells bluish green, oval, .005-7 mm x .007-9 mm . 

Newport, R. I.; Gloucester, Mass.; Europe. On Cladophoræ and Zostera. 

Differs mainly in the size of the cells from the preceding species. Our form agrees closely with 

European specimens. 

CLATHROCYSTIS, Henfrey. 

(From κληθρον [klethron], a lattice, and κνστις [kystis], a bladder.) 

Cells minute, very numerous, imbedded in mucus, forming a colony which is at first 

solid, then hollow, and finally perforate. 

C. ROSEO-PERSICINA, Cohn, in Beiträge zur Biologie, Vol. I, Part III,


p. 157, Pl. VI, Figs. 1-10. (Microhaloa rosea, Kütz., in Linnea, VIII, 341.— 

Protococcus, Kütz., Spec. Alg.—Pleurococcus roseo-persicinus, Rab.‚ Flora Europ. 

Alg.—Cryptococcus roseus, Kütz., Phyc. Gen.; Le Jolis, Liste des Algues Marines; 

Crouan, Florule du Finistère; Farlow, List of Marine Algæ, 1876.—Bacterium 

rubescens, Lankaster, in Quart. Journ. Micros. Science, Vol. XII, new series, p. 408, 

Pl. 22 and 23.) 

Cells very small, about .0025 mm in diameter, rose-colored. 

Whole New England coast; Europe. Both marine and in fresh water. 

Very common on decaying algæ and on the mud, which it covers with a purplish-red film. It is also 

found on codfish in the Gloucester market, causing what is known as the red fish. This alga, of which 

the detailed history is given by Cohn and Lankaster, l. c., after having been placed by different writers 

in several different genera, has finally been associated with Clathrocystis æruginosa, Henfrey, a 

common fresh-water alga of Europe and the United States. Both species are at first minute and solid, 

but as they grow older become hollow, and at length portions become detached, leaving holes in the 

circumference. Although in Europe the species is found in fresh water as well as in salt, it has not yet 

been observed in the interior of this country. 

ENTOPHYSALIS, Kütz. 

(From εντος [entos] and φυσαλις [physalis], a bladder.) 

Cells united in colonies, which assume a dendritic form. 

The genus is founded on Entophysalis granulosa, a species of the Mediterranean, referred by Zanardini 

to the Palmellaceæ, but more correctly by Thuret and Bornet to the Chroococcaceæ. 

E. MAGNOLIÆ, n. sp. 

Cells dark purple, .004-6 mm in diameter, united in twos and fours and imbedded in 

jelly, which forms a densely branching mass. Magnolia Cove, Gloucester, Mass. 

Rare. Autumn. 

This alga forms a thin slime on exposed rocks, in company with Glœocapsa crepidinum. The 

ramifications of the frond are visible on careful dissection. The species is much smaller and differs in 

color from E. granulosa of Europe. The cells do not differ much in size from those of the Glœocapsa, but 

they are of an entirely different color and have the concentric arrangement of the cell-wall much better 

marked than in that species. The cells adhere together in twos, fours, or some multiple of four, and all 

are held together by a mucous mass, which branches in a very dense fashion. The genus Entophysalis is 

merely a Glœocapsa, which instead of being indefinitely expanded is densely ramified. 

SUBORDER NOSTOCHINEÆ. 

(Nematogenæ, Cohn in part.) 

We have followed Thuret’s Essai de Classification des Nostochinées, Ann. des 

Sciences, 6 série, Tome I, in the arrangement of the genera. 

1. Filaments terminating in a hyaline hair......................................7 

Filaments destitute of a terminal hair .........................................2

30 


2. Filaments furnished with heterocysts........................................10 

Filaments destitute of heterocysts................................................3 

3. Filaments spirally twisted .............................................Spirulina. 

Filaments not twisted ...................................................................4 

4. Filaments without a distinct sheath.............................................5 

Filaments formed of one or more colored trichomata contained in a transparent 

sheath.............................................................................................6 

5. Cells bluish green or purple.......................................... Oscillaria. 

Cells colorless, or filled with minute black grains ....... Beggiatoa. 

6. Sheath containing several trichomata....................... Microcoleus. 

Sheath containing only one trichoma ..............................Lyngbya, 

7. Filaments free, forming tufts of indefinite extent......... Calothrix. 

Filaments united by a more or less firm gelatinous substance, frond of definite shape 

and extent ......................................................................................8 

8. Heterocysts basal, i.e., placed at the base of the principal filaments and branches 

........................................................................................................9 

Heterocysts intercalary .................................................Hormactis. 

9. Frond hemispherical or vesiculose, filaments radiating from the base Rivularia. 

Frond plane, filaments parallel .......................................... Isactis. 

10. Filaments destitute of a sheath .................................Sphærozyga. 

Filaments consisting of a trichoma in a sheath ...........Nodularia. 

SPHÆROZYGA, Ag. 

(From σφαιρα [sphaira], a sphere, and ζυγος [zygos], a yoke.) 

Filaments free, destitute of sheath. Spores produced in the cells adjacent to the 

heterocysts. 

S. CARMICHAELII, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 113 a. (Cylindrospermum, Kütz., Spec. Alg., 

p. 294.—Anabaina marina, Bréb.). Pl. I, Fig. 3. 

Filaments flexuous, densely interlaced, forming slimy bluish-green expansions, cells 

cylindro-spherical, about .0035 mm in diameter, diminishing in size towards the end of 

the filament, terminal cell pointed. Heterocysts several in each filament. Spores 

oblong, usually one on each side of heterocyst, about .018 mm in length when ripe, 

rather more than twice as long as broad, at first green, then yellowish. 

Noank, Conn.; Wood’s Holl, Gloucester, Cambridge, Mass.; Europe. Summer. 

Probably a common alga along our whole coast in midsummer and autumn on decaying algæ, looking 

like a shining emerald-green film. It occurs most frequently on the surface, but is also found at the 

depth of several feet. In his work on the Fresh-water Algæ of America, Prof. H. C. Wood, jr., [sic] 

mentions the present species as occurring at Camden, N. J. We cannot, however, agree with him in 

placing it in


the genus Dolichospermum of Thwaites. Ralfs, in Annals and Mag. of Nat. History, Vol. V, 2d series 

(1850), p. 325, following C. A. Agardh, who first described the genus Sphærozyga (Flora, 1827), says 

that in Sphærozyga the spores are first formed from the cells nearest the vesicular cells (heterocysts), 

as is shown by Professor Wood’s figure, Pl. 3, Fig. 3, to be the case with the species from Camden. 

Neither can we regard S. Carmichaelii, Harv., as a synonym of Cylindrospermum polysporum, Kütz., as 

given by Professor Wood. Although we have examined a large number of specimens, in only one 

instance have we found more than a single spore on each side of the heterocyst, which is quite different 

from C. polysporum, Kütz. 

NODULARIA, Mertens. 

(From nodulus, a little joint.) 

Filaments free, trichoma inclosed in a definite sheath, cells discoidal. Heterocysts at 

regular intervals. Spores numerous, contiguous, not adjacent to the heterocysts. 

The genus Spermosira of Kützing is included under the above. 

N. HARVEYANA, Thuret, Class, des Nostoch. (Spermosira Harveyana, Thwaites, 

Phyc. Brit., Pl. 173 c.) 

Filaments curved, cells discoidal, .0015-20 x .004 mm , heterocysts .0035 mm in 

diameter, spores numerous, about 4-8 together, spherical, .005-70 mm in diameter. 

Charles River, Cambridge, Mass.; Europe. 

Found in small quantities, mixed with Sphærozyga, in company with Rhizoclonium. 

SPIRULINA, Turpin. 

(From spirula, a small spiral.) 

Filaments simple, without a proper sheath, oscillating, spirally twisted. Spores 

unknown. 

S. TENUISSIMA, Kütz., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 105, Fig. 3; Farlow, List of Marine Algæ, 1876. 

Pl. I, Fig. 4. [sic; should be Pl. II, Fig. 4.] 

Filaments intricately interlaced, .0035 mm in diameter, hyaline, spiral, closely 

twisted, cell divisions scarcely visible, oscillations rapid. 

Eastport, Maine; Gloucester, Cambridge, Wood’s Holl, Mass.; Europe. 

This species is common at Eastport, where it forms, mixed with species of Oscillaria, dark purplecolored 

patches on the wharves at low-water mark, and it is without doubt to be found in similar 

localities along the whole coast. 

We found at Wood’s Holl, in 1876, a species of Spirulina which formed a greenish film on decaying algæ 

five or six feet below low-water mark, and the same species was collected by Mr. F. W. Hooper at Key 

West. It agrees closely with S. Thuretii, Crn, a species which differs from S. tenuissima, Kütz., in 

having slightly smaller filaments, which are also less tightly coiled. It hardly seems to us, however, as 

though the difference .was sufficient to separate, the two species. A Spirulina with much finer 

filaments than in S. tenuissima, and with a much more open spiral, occurs at Wood’s Holl, but we have 

never found it in sufficient quantity to ascertain the species.

32 


BEGGIATOA, Trevisan. 

(Named in honor of Francesco Secondo Beggiato, an Italian botanist.) 

Filaments simple, hyaline, no proper sheath, rapidly oscillating, cells filled with 

opaque granules. Spores unknown. 

A genus separated from Oscillaria only by its color, which is white to the naked eye, and by the 

granules of sulphur which often make the cell seem quite opaque when viewed with the microscope. 

The species give off a strong odor of hydric sulphate, and are found in both fresh and salt water, 

especially in hot springs. The diameter of the filaments, an uncertain mark, is about the only guide to 

the distinction of the species. 

B. ALBA, Treves, var. MARINA (Warming, Videnskab. Middels., 1875, Pl. X, Figs. 6, 7). 

Filaments .0036 mm in diameter, cell divisions indistinct, granules usually irregularly 

placed. 

Cambridge; Europe. 

In brackish ditches. 

B. ARACHNOIDEA, Rab. (Warming, l. c., Pl. X, Figs. 2-4). 

Filaments .005-7 mm in diameter, cells narrower than broad, granules usually in 

bands parallel to the transverse cell-walls. 

Eastport, Maine; Wood’s Holl, Mass.; Europe. 

On dead algæ. 

B. MIRABILIS, Cohn (Warming, l. c.‚ Pl. X, Fig. 5). 

Filaments .016 mm (20-40, Warming) in diameter, cells a third as long as broad, 

granules arranged in bands. 

Cambridge, Mass.; Europe. 

There is a doubt about the accuracy of the determination of the specimens referred to this species. It is 

much the largest of the genus found on our coast. The only specimens which we have measured were 

.016 mm in breadth, which agrees with the measurement of Cohn, but not with that of Warming. We 

have the impression, however, that we have seen larger specimens than those measured. 

Leptothrix rigidula, Kütz., is found at Wood’s Holl, on Ectocarpus and other algæ. The genus Leptothrix 

is now limited to small species related to Bacillus. The present species is parasitic on Metacarpus and 

Cladophora, on which it forms white fringes in midsummer. The filaments are about .002 mm in 

diameter. The cell divisions are very indistinct. The species may possibly be the same as Beggiatoa 

minima, Warming, l. c., Pl. X, Fig. 10. 

OSCILLARIA, Kütz. 

(From oscillo, to vibrate.) 

Filaments simple, destitute of distinct sheath, oscillating, bluish green or dark 

purple. 

The species of this genus are found on mud, wharves, and wood work. They are not usually found pure, 

but mixed with Spirulina, Lyngbya, &c. The following are all to which we care to give a name, but not 

by any means all which occur with us.


O. LIMOSA, Kütz., var. CHALYBEA, Tab. Phyc., Vol. I, Pl. 41, Fig. 3; Le Jolis, Liste des 

Algues Marines. 

Filaments .008-9 mm in diameter, flexuous, apex obtuse, oscillations marked, cells 

about half as long as broad, purplish colored, 

Eastport, Maine; Europe. 

Forming a slimy layer on piles. Our specimens seem to agree well with specimens from Cherbourg. O. 

littoralis, Harv., of Crouan’s Alg. Finistère, No, 325, is apparently very near to this, if not the same. 

O. SUBULIFORMIS, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 251 b. Filaments .006-7½ mm in diameter, at 

the end tapering to an incurved point, cells about one-third as long as broad, bluish 

green. Charles River, Cambridge; Europe. 

O. SUBTORULOSA, (Bréb.). (Phormidium subtorulosum, Bréb., in Kütz. Tab. Phyc., 

Vol. I, Pl. 49, Fig. 5.) 

Filaments .003-4 mm , cells nearly cuboidal, with rounded angles, so that the filament 

appears slightly crenate. 

Eastport, Maine; Wood’s Holl, Mass.; Europe. 

To this species is doubtfully referred a form common on wharves at Eastport and on the government 

wharf at Wood’s Holl, where it forms slimy patches, mixed with Spirulina, &c. The filaments of this 

species bear a decided resemblance to the trichomata of Microcoleus chthonoplastes, and it may perhaps 

be a question whether they are not really a stage of that species in which the trichomata have escaped 

from the enveloping sheath. Opposed to this view is the large quantity of filaments and apparently an 

entire absence of empty sheaths. That the trichomata of M. chthonoplastes often escape from the sheath 

can easily be seen, but how long they remain free and how rapidly they increase under such 

circumstances is uncertain. 

MICROCOLEUS, Desmaz. 

(From µικρος [mikros], small, and κολεος [koleos], a sheath.) 

Filaments slowly oscillating, destitute of heterocysts, several united in a single 

gelatinous sheath, which is either simple or branching. 

M. CHTHONOPLASTES, Thuret. (Oscillatoria chthonoplastes, Lyngbye— 

Chthonoblastus Lyngbei, Kütz.—Microcoleus anguiformis, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 

249; Kütz., Tab. Phyc., Vol. I, Pl. 57.—Chthonoblastus anguiformis, Rab., Flora 

Europ. Alg., Sect. II, p. 133.) Pl. II, Fig. 3. 

Sheaths elongated, fusiform, being six or more times broader in the center than at 

the extremities, simple, several twisted together so as to form a green stratum, 

filaments dark green, about .005 mm in diameter, intricately twisted together, three 

or four only at the extremity of the sheath, but very numerous at the center, where 

the sheath is frequently ruptured, allowing the filaments to protrude; cells as long 

as broad, or a little broader, terminal cell acutely pointed. 

S. Miss. 59——3

34 


Wood’s Holl, Mass.; Atlantic shore of Europe. Summer 

A species easily recognized and probably common along the New England coast in summer, but rarely 

found in sufficient quantities to make herbarium specimens. It is usually found in small streaks, so 

entangled with other Nostochineæ and Confervæ as to be quite inextricable. At times it is found 

tolerably pure on the old stalks of Spartina, between tide-marks. Pure specimens may be obtained by 

allowing specimens in which filaments of this species are entangled to remain overnight in a shallow 

dish of salt water, when the Microcoleus will have freed itself from other substances and come to the 

surface. As generally found, the plant looks like an attenuated cornucopia, owing to the rupture of the 

sheath in the middle, allowing the filaments to project. This is shown in Harvey’s figure, l. c., and also 

in Pl. II, Fig. 3, where only half of the plant has been drawn. Normally the sheaths are about a quarter 

of an inch long, about .075 mm broad in the middle, and tapering to about .012 mm at the ends. Color a 

deep bluish green. The filaments readily escape from their sheath, and might in this condition pass for 

a species of Oscillaria. 

MICROCOLEUS TERRESTRIS, Desmaz. (Chthonoblastus repens, Kütz.), and M. VERSICOLOR, Thuret, are not 

infrequently found in muddy places in the interior of New England. 

LYNGBYA, Ag. 

(Named in honor of Hans Christian Lyngbye, a Danish botanist.) 

Filaments free, each provided with a distinct sheath, simple, destitute of 

heterocysts, no proper oscillations. Spores unknown. 

L. MAJUSCULA, Harv.; Mermaid’s Hair. (Conferva majuscula, Dillw.—L. crispa, Ag. 

in part,—L. majuscula, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 62; Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, p. 110, Pl. 

47 a.) Pl. I, Fig. 4 

Filaments Long, forming floating tufts, crisped, about .028 mm to .032 mm in diameter, 

blackish green, sheath prominent, cells 8 to 10 times as broad as long. 

Cape Cod, Mass., to Key West; Europe; Pacific Ocean. Common and widely diffused. 

Summer. 

The largest, most striking, and most common of our marine Lyngbyæ, easily recognized by the length 

and diameter of its filaments and its color, which is a blackish green. It forms during the later summer 

months large tufts upon Zostera and various other algæ, and is often found floating free in considerable 

quantities. In the center of the masses the filaments are intricately twisted together, but on the surface 

they float out from one another, so as to deserve the common name of mermaid’s hair. In the older 

specimens the filaments are very much curled and twisted, forming the L. crispa of some writers. The 

sheath is always well marked, although, as is the case in all the species, it varies so much in thickness 

under different circumstances as to render it impossible to give accurate measurements. The 

heterocysts, “cellulis interstitialibus sparsis,” described by Rabenhorst in this species, Flora Europ. 

Alg., Part II, p. 142, have, in reality, no existence. 

L. ÆSTUARII, Liebm. (L. æruginosa, Ag.—L. ferruginea, Ag., in Ner. Am. Bor. Part 

III, p. 102, Pl. 47 b; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 311.) 

Filaments forming a verdigris-green stratum, about .016-18 mm in diameter, sheaths 

distinct.


Gloucester, Mass., Mrs. A. L. Davis, and southward; Europe. Summer. 

A common species of the New England coast, abundant in shallow, brackish pools, where it covers the 

exposed algæ and Zostera. Much less striking than L. majuscula, Harv., from which it is distinguished 

at sight by its brighter green color, changing to yellowish rather than blackish, by the diameter of its 

filaments, which is about half that of L. majuscula, by its thinner sheath, and by forming thin strata 

rather than loose tufts. In the Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, the diameter of the filaments of L. majuscula, 

Harv., is given as .05 inch, and that of the filaments of L. ferruginea, Ag., as .001 inch, which is 

evidently incorrect, as one species is not fifty or even five times larger than the other. 

L. LUTEO-FUSCA, Ag. (L. fulva, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, p. 102, Pl. 47 f.) 

Filaments fasciculate, erect, greenish yellow, .008-10 mm in diameter, sheath distinct. 

Exs.—Alg. Am. Bor., Farlow, Anderson & Eaton, No. 48. 

Stonington, Conn., Bailey; Noank, Conn.; Wood’s Holl, Mass., W. G. F.; Europe. 

Apparently a common alga of Southern New England, differing in its habit from all our other species of 

the genus, except L. tenerrima. It grows in large patches on stones and wood-work between tide-marks. 

The filaments are erect, from one to three inches high or somewhat higher, when in their best condition 

olive-colored, but more frequently a pale yellow. The thickness of the sheath, by which Harvey 

separated his L. fulva from L. luteo-fusca, Ag., is by no means constant, and the species cannot be kept 

distinct. As is the case in several of the species of Lyngbya, the sheath is some times two, three, or even 

a greater number of times thicker than at others. 

L. TENERRIMA, Thuret, mscr. 

Filaments slender, fasciculate, erect, bluish green, .0035 mm in diameter, sheaths 

very thin. 

Gloucester, Mass., Mrs. A. L. Davis; Newport, R. I.; Europe. 

This species was first detected near Gloucester, by Mrs. Davis, growing apparently on sand-covered 

rocks. The filaments are bluish green, and not over a quarter of an inch high. The species will be easily 

recognized by the diameter of the filaments, which is decidedly less than that of any other of our 

species. Dr. Bornet, to whom a specimen was sent, considers our plant the same as that collected by the 

late M. Thuret, at Biarritz, France, and named by him L. tenerrima. I have since found it in 

considerable quantity at the base of the cliffs near the Winans mansion, at Newport. 

L. NIGRESCENS, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, p. 102, Pl. 47 d. 

“Filaments very slender, flaccid, densely interwoven into a fleecy, blackish-green 

stratum.” (Harvey, l. c.) 

Canarsic Bay, L. I., Hooper; Peconic Bay, Harvey; on mud and on Zostera, 

Gloucester, Mass., Mrs. A. L. Davis. 

Var. major. 

Filaments forming a dark-brown gelatinous stratum, .0152 mm in diameter, sheath 

thin.

36 


Wood’s Holl. Common on Zostera. Summer. 

From Harvey’s description, it would be difficult to recognize this species. From an authentic specimen 

in our possession, collected by Harvey at Peconic Bay, the filaments are seen to be from .0095 mm to 

.01115 mm in diameter. The sheaths are distinct, but less marked than in L. æstuarii, from which, the 

present species differs in the shortness and smaller diameter of the filaments, and in the color, which is 

a dark purple, at times almost black. The filaments differ from those of both L. majuscula and L. 

æstuarii in being held together by an amorphous, gelatinous substance, supposed to be characteristic of 

the genus Phormidium. That genus, however, includes plants which are now properly assigned to other 

genera. 

We have often searched for this alga, but have never found a form which seemed to correspond exactly 

to Harvey’s specimen. The same alga has, however, been collected by Mrs. Davis at Gloucester. At 

Wood’s Holl is a Lyngbya, distributed in Alg. Am. Bor., Farlow, Anderson & Eaton, No. 47, which is not 

uncommon, forming patches several inches long on Zostera, and which resembles L. nigrescens closely 

in everything but the greater diameter of the filaments. Its sliminess and the delicacy of the filaments 

cause it at first sight to be mistaken for diatomes. In drying, it becomes somewhat greenish. This 

species, which resembles closely L. Kützingiana, Thuret (Phormidium, Le Jolis), we can regard only as 

a large variety of Harvey’s L. nigrescens. 

CALOTHRIX, (Ag.) Thuret. 

(From καλος [kalos], beautiful, and θριξ [thrix], hair.) 

Filaments terminating in a hyaline hair, fixed at the base, free above, occasionally 

branching, growing in little tufts or strata of indefinite extent, heterocysts present in 

most of the species, no oscillations. Spores unknown. 

We adopt the genus with Thuret’s limitations, including, in part, the genera Schizosiphon, Amphithrix, 

Leibleinia, &c., of Kützing. 

a. Species growing in little tufts. 

C. CONFERVICOLA, Ag. (Leibleinia chalybea and amethystea, Kütz.—C. confervicola, 

Ag., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 254; Notes Algologiques, Pl. 3.) Pl. I, Fig. 6. 

Tufts fasciculate, filaments dark bluish purple, attenuated, .018 mm in diameter, 

heterocysts all basal, generally few in number. 

On algæ of all kinds. Summer. Very common. Europe. 

C. CRUSTACEA, (Schousb.) Born. & Thur. (Schizosiphon fasciculatus and lasiopus, 

Kütz.—Oscillatoria crustacea, Schousb.—Calothrix crustacea, Bornet & Thuret, 

Notes Algologiques, p. 13, Pl. IV.) 

Tufts fasciculate, filaments bright green, attenuated, .0125 mm in diameter, 

heterocysts intercalary, often very numerous. 


On algæ of all kinds, and on rocks. Summer. Very common. Europe. 

The two species just described are very common, certainly from Wood’s Holl to New York, and probably 

also northward, on all kinds of algæ, on which they form fine tufts or fringes. The two species usually 

grow mixed together, but may be


easily distinguished under the microscope, C. confervicola being darker colored, the filaments thicker, 

and only furnished with heterocysts at the base, whereas in C. crustacea the heterocysts are scattered 

through the filament, often solitary, but sometimes as many as eight together, and frequently truncate. 

C. crustacea is also common on rocks. 

b. Species forming expansions. 

C. SCOPULORUM, Ag.‚ Phyc. Brit., Pl. 58 b; Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, p. 105. 

Filaments forming strata of indefinite extent, flexuous, usually branching, .008-12 mm 

in diameter, heterocysts basal and intercalary, sheaths thick, striate. 

Var. VIVIPARA. (C. vivipara, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, p. 106.) 

Nahant, Wood’s Holl, Mass., W. G. F.; Rhode Island, Bailey; Europe. Var. vivipara at 

Nahant, W. G. F., and Seaconnet Point, Bailey. 

Forming indefinite-shaped patches on rocks, on Rhizoclonium, and other prostrate algæ. Apparently 

much less common than the two preceding species. It differs from C. crustacea in the flexuous habit of 

the filaments, which are loosely twisted around one another, in the much rarer occurrence of 

intercalary heterocysts, and in the color of the filaments, which is not a bright green, but generally 

brownish. The sheaths, too, become thick, dark, and striated. As is the casein all species of Calothrix 

where the filaments are closely interwoven, the diameter of the filaments is greater and that of the 

sheath less, proceeding from within outwards. The variety vivipara is only a luxuriant form of the 

typical species. 

C. PULVINATA, Ag. (C. hydnoides, Harv.) 

Filaments densely packed, forming a dark green spongy layer, united at the surface 

in tooth-like masses, flexuous, .006 mm to .0115 mm in diameter, heterocysts 

intercalary. 


Wood’s Holl, on wharves. Common. Europe. 

In this species the filaments are much more densely interwoven and flexuous than in any of the 

preceding species. It forms patches looking like a honeycomb, or like a small Hydnum, and can be torn 

from its attachment in pieces of considerable size. 

C. PARASITICA, Thuret. (Rivularia, Chauvin.—Schizosiphon, Le Jolis.) Filaments 

loosely united, forming a velvety film, bulbous at base, simple or only slightly 

branching, about .008-10 mm in diameter, heterocysts basal, obliquely truncate. 

On Nemalion multifidum, Newport, R. I.; Europe. 

Easily recognized by its bulbous base and obliquely truncate heterocysts, and its peculiar habitat. 

RIVULARIA, Roth. 

(Named from the fluviatile habitat of many of the species.) 

Frond gelatinous, more or less globose, filaments radiating, attenuated, furnished 

with distinct sheaths, branching, a heterocyst at the base of each branch.

38 


Few genera of algæ have been divided by different writers into so many artificial and unsatisfactory 

genera as Rivularia. Some of the described genera are characterized by striations or alterations of the 

sheath which arise from age or unfavorable external conditions. Other so-called genera are 

characterized by the presence of parasitic plants in the thallus of a true Rivularia. As understood in the 

present article, the genus differs from Calothrix in the fact that the filaments are imbedded in a mass 

of jelly and the thallus is of a definite shape and extent. From Isactis, which might be perhaps 

considered a subgenus, Rivularia differs in having its filaments radiate from a central point instead of 

being parallel to one another. From Hormactis it abundantly differs in the mode of formation of the 

filaments. In Rivularia the branches are formed by the division of the filament laterally, the upper part 

of the branch separating from the main filament, and the two being only in contact at the base of the 

branch, where a heterocyst is always to be found. In Hormactis the filaments push out sidewise in the 

form of an inverted V. The apex of the V then elongates upwards and, at the same time, the sides of the 

V elongate so that, in passing from the interior of the thallus outwards, instead of finding a series of 

filaments spreading out fan-shaped, we find the filaments converging two by two, which finally unite 

into single filaments near the surface of the thallus. Moreover, the heterocysts in Hormactis are 

intercalary, not basal. In none of our marine species of Rivularia have spores been seen, but spores are 

found in some fresh-water species of Glœotrichia, a genus closely allied to, if not to be included in, 

Rivularia. 

R. ATRA, Roth. (Zonotrichia hemispærica, [sic] Ag.—Euactis amæna, atra, confluens, 

hemisphærica, Lenormandiana, marina, Kütz.—Linckia atra, Lyngb.—R. atra, 

Phyc, Brit., Pl. 239.) Pl. II, Fig. 2. 

Thallus solid, globose or hemispherical, varying in size from that of a head of a pin 

to half an inch in diameter, dark glossy black, filaments straight, .0038-45 mm in 

diameter, heterocysts about as broad as or rather broader than the filaments, 

usually somewhat pointed. 

Var. confluens, flattish, owing to the coalescence of several individuals. 

Common along the whole coast, on stones, algæ, and stalks of Spartina, often in company with Isactis 

plana. Distinguished by its dark, shining color and usually hemispherical shape. It is generally minute 

in size, but occasionally grows as large as a pea or somewhat larger. The variety confluens resembles, to 

the naked eye, Isactis plana, but is decidedly thicker. Microscopically the two are quite different. 

R. PLICATA, Carm., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 315. (Physactis, Kütz.) 

Thallus at first solid, soon becoming hollow, plicato-rugose, folds sinuous, filaments 

flexuous, .003-4 mm in diameter, heterocysts nearly spherical, about as broad as the 

filaments. 

On mud and Spartina roots. Cohasset Narrows, Wood’s Holl, Mass., W. G. F. 

Common. 

Although as yet known to occur only at the two above-named localities, this species will probably be 

found to be common along the whole New England coast, but it is certainly less common than the 

preceding species. Its favorite habitat is the mud in which Spartina is growing, between tide-marks. It 

attains a larger size than R. atra, is almost always hollow, and easily recognized by its cerebriformly 

plicate surface. The substance is softer than in R. atra, the filaments are slightly narrower and less 

closely packed together, and the heterocysts are rather more spherical than in that species. 

R. HOSPITA, Thuret (Euactis hospita and prorumpens, Kütz.), which differs from the


preceding species in having filaments .008 mm to .012 mm in diameter, was recognized by Dr. Bornet in 

company with R. plicata in a specimen from Cohasset Narrows. As we have not been able to recognize 

the species in any of our own specimens from the same locality, the presumption is that it is not very 

common. 

ISACTIS, Thuret. 

(From ισος [isos], equal, and ακτις [aktis], a ray.) 

Frond plane, composed of parallel filaments, held together by a tough, gelatinous 

intercellular substance, ending in a hyaline hair, heterocysts basal, ramifications 

few. Spores unknown. 

This genus differs from Rivularia only in that the filaments are parallel to one another so as to form a 

flat frond, whereas in Rivularia they radiate from a central point and form more or less spherical 

fronds. It might with propriety be considered a subgenus under Rivularia. 

I. PLANA, Thuret, l. c. (Dasyactis, Kütz.—Physactis atropurpurea, obducens, Kütz.) 

Pl. I, Fig. 2. 

Frond flat, thin, dense, dark green, outline irregular, filaments .0076-95 rmm in 

diameter, .12-.15 mm high sheaths often torn and striate. 

Whole New England coast; Europe. 

Very common on rocks, Fucus, Punctaria, and other algæ, forming dark-green spots, scarcely raised 

above the substance on which it is growing. 

HORMACTIS, Thuret. 

(From ορµος [ormos], a necklace, and ακτις [aktis], a ray.) 

Frond gelatinous, globose, at first solid, then hollow and plicate, heterocyst 

intercalary, filaments simple at the surface of frond, bifurcating below. Spores 

unknown. 

H. QUOYI, (Ag.) Bornet, in litt. (Rivularia nitida, Farlow, List of Marine Algæ, 1876. 

Pl. II, Fig. 1. [sic] 

Fronds gregarious, dark green, plicato-rugose, from a quarter of an inch to two to 

three inches in diameter, filaments .0028-55 mm in diameter, tortuous, cells of 

external part of the frond thick and discoidal, becoming more oval in the interior of 

the frond heterocysts numerous, scattered, about .0038 mm x .0058 mm . 


Wood’s Holl, Mass., W. G. F.; Falmouth, Mass., Mr. F. S. Collins; Marianne Islands. 

This interesting species, although it has as yet only been found at Wood’s Holl and. the adjoining coast, 

will probably also be found at other localities on Long Island. Sound. It grows in considerable quantities 

upon species of Fucus, at half tide, on the inner side of Parker’s Point, Wood’s Holl, and we have also 

found it washed ashore on the beaches of Buzzard’s Bay, in the same township. It makes its appearance 

in June, and disappears in the month of September, being in perfection in the month of July. The 

fronds sometimes acquire a large size, two or three inches in diameter, but usually they are much 

smaller and densely aggregated, almost covering the Fucus

40 


stalks upon which they are growing. It first appears as solid green spots upon the Fucus, which soon 

swell out into thin bladders, which partly collapse on being removed from the water. The peculiar 

inverted V-shaped filaments are seen to greater advantage by dissecting with needles small pieces of 

the frond than by making sections with a razor. 

The only other species of this genus is Hormactis Balani, Thuret, which grows on barnacles on the 

coast of France. It is a comparatively minute plant, much less striking than our own species, which 

seems rather to replace, on our coast, the Rivularia nitida, Ag., of the coast of Europe, which it 

resembles in general appearance and habit. The external resemblance to that species is so great that 

specimens were sent to Dr. Bornet as R. nitida, Ag. (?) By him it was recognized as a new species of 

Hormactis, H. Farlowii, under which name it was distributed in Alg. Am. Bor. Since then Dr. Bornet 

has recognized its identity with Rivularia Quoyi, Ag., of the Marianne Islands. It is not a little 

remarkable that the species is only known in two localities so widely remote from one another. 

STIGONEMA MAMILLOSUM, Ag., occurs in a brook which empties into the sea at Rafe’s Chasm, Magnolia 

Cove, in Gloucester; and CALOTHRIX PARIETINA, Thuret, is found in Nobska Pond, close to the sea, at 

Wood’s Holl. The species named all belong in the present order, but are not strictly marine. 

ORDER ZOOSPOREÆ 

Algæ either green or olive-brown in color. Reproduction by means of zoospores, 

which unite in pairs to form a zygospore. 

This order includes all the marine Clorospermeæ [sic] attributed to New England in the Nereis Am. 

Bor., with the exception of the genus Vaucheria, as well as the greater part of the olive-brown seaweeds, 

with the exception of the rock-weeds or Fucaceæ. The account of the order given in the 

introduction to the present article should be consulted in the present connection. 

a. Green algæ, multicellular, zoospores of two kinds—macrozoospores 

with four and microzoospores with two terminal cilia..Chlorosporeæ. 

b. Green algæ, frond unicellular, branching ....................Bryopsideæ. 

c. Green algæ, frond unicellular, simple............................. Botrydieæ. 

d. Olive-brown algæ, zoospores of one kind, with two cilia laterally attached 

.....................................................................................Phæosporeæ. 

SUBORDER CHLOROSPOREÆ. 

1. Fronds membranaceous ......................................................(Ulvæ) 2 

Fronds filamentous..............................................................................3 

2. Cells in a single layer .................................................. Monostroma. 

Cells in two layers ........................................................................Ulva. 

3. Some of the cells furnished with long hyaline hairsBulbocoleon. Cells destitute of 

hyaline hairs..................................................................................4 

4. Filaments branching throughout................................. Cladophora. 

Filaments with short, root-like branches only ............. Rhizoclonium. 

Filaments unbranched ........................................................................5 

5. Filaments rigid, setaceous.........................................Chætomorpha. 

Filaments soft and flaccid ......................................................Ulothrix.


MONOSTROMA, (Thuret) Wittrock. 

(From µονος [monos], single, and στρωµα [stroma], a bed.) 

Fronds membranaceous, consisting of a single layer of cells, which are either 

parenchymatous or separated from one another by more or less jelly. 

As defined by Thuret, Monostroma differed from Ulva in having the cells embedded in jelly rather than 

arranged in the usual form of parenchymatous tissue. Wittrock includes in the genus all the Ulvæ 

consisting of a single layer. In most of the species the frond is at first sack-shape, but soon ruptures, the 

segments being composed of one layer of cells. The basal cells are prolonged downwards, but they 

become more or less circular in the upper part. 

M. PULCHRUM, n. sp. 

Fronds membranaceous, fasciculate, light green, lanceolate or cuneate-lanceolate, 

attenuated at the base, margin crisped, two to twelve inches long, two inches broad, 

substance very delicate, about .006 mm in thickness, cells irregular, more or less 

sinuous, intercellular substance small. 

Watch Hill, Conn., Prof. Eaton; Gloucester, Mass., Mrs. Bray; Portland, Me., Mr. C. 

B. Fuller. Spring. 

A beautiful and apparently not uncommon spring plant of New England, distinguished by its outline 

and delicate substance. When fully grown the fronds are most frequently attenuated at the base and 

rather obtuse at the summit. When young they are lanceolate, and seem to be always plane, never 

saccate, as in the next species. The color is a delicate green, and the plant cannot easily be removed 

from the paper on which it is pressed. This species has sometimes been distributed as Ulva Linza, to 

which it bears more or less resemblance in shape. 

M. GREVILLEI, Wittrock. (Ulva Lactuca, Grev. non Linn.; Harv. Phyc. Brit., Pl. 243, 

and Ner. Am. Bor. ‚ Part III, p. 60.—Enteromorpha Grevillei, Thuret.) 

Frond at first saccate, then split to the base into irregular segments, color light 

green, segments plane, unequally laciniate, frond about .012 mm thick, cells angular, 

intercellular substance small. 

Boston Bay (Ner. Am. Bor.); Maiden, Mass., Mr. Collins; Ives Point, Conn., Mr. F. W. 

Hall; Europe. Spring. 

A common spring species of the Atlantic shores of Europe, but apparently not so common in New 

England. The cells of this species vary considerably, and in some specimens the intercellular gelatinous 

substance is tolerably prominent. 

M. BLYTII, (Aresch.) Wittr. (Ulva Blytii, Aresch., Phyc. Scand., p. 186, Pl. 10 g.—M. 

Blyttie [sic], Wittrock, Monog. Monostr., p. 49, Pl. IV ‚ Fig. 11.) 

Frond membranaceous, subcoriaceous, dark green, irregularly cleft, margin crisped, 

.028-40 mm in thickness, cells angular, closely packed, intercellular substance small. 

Exs.—Nordstedt & Wittrock, Alg. Scand., No. 44; Alg. Am. Bor., Farlow, Anderson & 

Eaton, No. 98.

42 


Eastport, Maine; Gloucester, Nahant, Mass.; Northern Europe. Autumn. 

This, by far the most striking of our Monostromata, grows luxuriantly in the large tide-pool at Dog 

Island, Eastport, where it attains a length of one foot. In habit it resembles Ulva lactuca var. rigida, 

but it is of a deeper green. Our specimens were collected in the month of September. As it occurs at 

Nahant the species is not generally more than two or three inches long, and recalls the figure of Ulva 

obscura, Kütz., Tab. Phyc., Pl. 12, No. 2. It is found in the clefts of exposed rocks, late in the season. Its 

color is a deep green when growing, which becomes brownish in drying. It does not adhere well to 

paper. 

M. CREPIDINUM, n. sp. 

Fronds delicate, light green, one to three inches long, flabellately orbiculate, split to 

the base, segments obovate, .018-36 mm thick, cells roundish-angular, intercellular 

substance prominent. 

Government wharf, Wood’s Holl, Mass. August. 

This small species is common on the piles of the wharf at Wood’s Holl. It is very soft, and collapses on 

removing it from the water. It preserves its color well on paper. The above name is given provisionally, 

as we are not able to refer the species to any known form. It resembles M. Wittrockcii, Bornet, a species, 

we believe, not yet described. Except in its small size, it is very near M. orbiculatum, Thur., but the 

thickness of that species, as given by Wittrock, is .032-40 mm . An examination of a specimen collected by 

Thuret, however, gives the same measurement as our species. If the species eventually is united with 

M. orbiculatum, the present must be regarded as a small form. 

ULVA, (L.) Le Jolis. 

(Supposed to be from ul, Celtic for water.) 

Fronds simple or branching, consisting of two layers of cells, which are either in 

close contact with one another or else at maturity separate so as to form a tubular 

frond. 

We have followed Le Jolis in uniting the old genera Ulva and Enteromorpha, and we might perhaps 

have gone farther and united Monostroma with Ulva, for if Monostroma Grevillei when young 

resembles an Enteromorpha, in its older stages it splits into membranes consisting of a single layer of 

cells, which are certainly imbedded in a certain amount of gelatinous substance, yet so little as to make 

it doubtful whether to call the frond parenchymatous or not. 

U. LACTUCA, (Linn.) Le Jolis. (Ulva latissima and rigida, Ag. & Auct. recent.—U. 

latissima, Grev. & Harv.—Phycoseris gigantea, myriotrema, australis, &c., Kütz.) Pl. 

III. Fig. 1. 

Frond flat, thick, unbranched, variously more or less ovate in outline, divided, the 

two layers of cells adherent. 

α. Var. RIGIDA, (Ag.) Le Jolis. (U. rigida, Ag.—U. latissima, Harv.‚ Phyc. Brit., 

partim.—Phycoseris australis, Kütz.) 

Frond rigid, rather thick, generally deeply divided, laciniæ irregularly lacerateerose, 

the base of frond more dense and deeply colored than the rest.


β. Var. LACTUCA, Le Jolis. (U. latissima, Harv., partim.—Phycoseris gigantea, Kütz.) 

Frond orbicular, oblong or elongate-fasciate, simple, undivided or scarcely Lobed, 

frequently spirally contorted. 

γ. Var. LATISSIMA, Le Jolis. 

Frond simple, at first cuneate-substipitate, afterwards broadly expanded. 

Very common all over the world, especially in brackish waters. 

The present species nearly corresponds to the Ulva latissima of the Nereis Am. Bor., but is not the U. 

Lactuca of that work. It is distinguished from the remaining species by being always flat, never tubular 

at any age, and by its more or less orbicular outline not becoming linear or ribbon-shaped. Var. α is the 

common Ulva on rocks and in pools exposed to the action of the waves. The frond, although not very 

large, is rigid, and does not adhere well to paper in drying. In outline it is orbicular, and is generally 

deeply incised. Var. β has a more elongated shape, and is generally plicato-undulate. Var. γ is very 

common in brackish places on the mud, and attains a very Large size. When fully grown it has no 

definite shape, but is ragged on the margin and often perforated. 

Ulva enteromorpha, Le Jolis. 

Frond linear or lanceolate in outline, attenuated at base, the two layers of cells 

either entirely separating, so as to form a tubular frond, or slightly cohering, 

forming a flat frond. 

α. Var. LANCEOLATA, Le Jolis. (Ulva Linza, Greville & Harvey.—Phycoseris 

lanceolata and crispata, Kützing.) 

Frond narrow, flat, ribbon-shaped, unbranched, much attenuated at base, margin 

somewhat crisped, sometimes so much so that the frond appears spirally twisted. 

β. Var. INTESTINALIS, Le Jolis. (Enteromorpha intestinalis, Auct.) 

Frond simple, attenuated, and subcompressed at base, above tubuloso-inflated. 

γ. Var. COMPRESSA, Le Jolis. (Ulva compressa, L.— Enteromorpha compressa, Auct.) 

Frond tubuloso-compressed, generally proliferously branched, branches uniform, 

simple, attenuate at the base, broader and obtuse at the apex, color somewhat dingy. 

Very common all over the world, particularly in brackish water. 

This species includes the Ulva Linza, Enteromorpha intestinalis, and Enteromorpha comressa of the 

Nereis Am. Bor., which can only be regarded as varieties of one species. The species reaches its highest 

development in the var. β (Enteromorpha intestinalis, Auct.), which is excessively common in all 

shallow water along our coast, and is conspicuously disagreeable by its resemblance in shape to the 

swollen intestines of some animal. The species approaches Ulva Lactuca, L., in var. α, which is not so 

common as the other forms of the species whose long ribbon-like fronds are compressed instead of 

tubular, as in var. β. In var. γ, with branching instead of simple fronds, the

44 


species approaches Ulva clathrata. Innumerable varieties have been made of the various forms of this 

species, but an enumeration of them is quite uncalled for in this place. 

Ulva clathrata, Ag. 

“Frond tubular, filiform, several times branched, branches attenuate at the apex, 

often very fine, cells arranged in rows.” (Le Jolis, Liste des Algues Marines de 

Cherbourg.) 

As usually defined by algologists, Ulva clathrata differs from U. compressa principally in the smaller 

size of the branches, a character by no means constant. We quote the specific distinctions as given by 

Le Jolis, l. c., which express more clearly than the descriptions of other writers the relations between 

the species: 

“I think they (the specific characters) are to be found, first, in the general form of the fronds, which, 

broadened at the summit in the different varieties of Ulva Enteromorpha, are, on the contrary, much 

attenuated at the extremity in Ulva clathrata. Secondly, in the ramification. While Ulva compressa and 

intestinalis are rather proliferous than branching in the true acceptation of the word—their branches 

being ordinarily of such a character that when they are given off from the lower part of the frond there 

does not exist, so to speak, any principal axis, or when borne towards the extremity of the frond 

reduced to simple proliferations; in Ulva clathrata, on the contrary, there exists a well-marked 

ramification, the fronds or primary axes bearing numerous secondary branches, which in their turn 

produce branchlets of an inferior order.” 

Of the species, as defined by Le Jolis, there are several varieties common on our coast, principally to be 

distinguished by the fineness of the branches and more or less complicated ramification. The variety 

Agardhiana of Le Jolis (Enteromorpha Linkiana, Grev.), rather coarse and rigid, is common in shallow 

water, as is also the form called by Harvey Enteromorpha ramulosa. The var. Rothiana forma prostrata 

is found in a ditch at Maiden, Mass. 

ULVA HOPKIRKII, (McCalla) Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 263. 

Frond capillary, excessively branched, ramuli ending in a single row of cells. 

Greenport, L. I., Mr. Hooper; Gloucester, Mass., Mrs. A. L. Davis; Europe. 

A beautiful species, looking much more like a fine Cladophora than an Ulva. It is in most cases easily 

recognized by its tenuity and light-green color. It grows in large tufts on other algæ and is about eight 

or ten inches long. It is by no means certain that this species should not be regarded as an extreme 

variety of U. clathrata in spite of the fact that the branches usually end in a single row of cells. 

ULOTHRIX, (Kütz.) Thur. 

(From υλη [ule], a forest, and θριξ [thrix], a hair.) 

Filaments grass-green, soft and flaccid, unbranched, at first forming tufts attached 

at the base, afterwards becoming more or less entangled, cells never long in 

proportion to their diameter. 

The genus Ulothrix here includes all the unbranching marine Chlorosporeæ of a delicate texture, and 

embraces the species included by Harvey in the genus Hormotrichum of Kützing, which can hardly be 

kept distinct from Ulothrix, an older genus of Kützing. When young the species of the genus are 

attached at the base and unbranched, but in some cases, when old, the filaments are twisted together, 

and it is not always easy to find the point of attachment.


The genus is too nearly related to Chætomorpha, from which it differs in substance, the filaments being 

more or less gelatinous in Ulothrix and rigid in Chætomorpha. Of all the filamentous marine 

Chlorosporeæ the species of Ulothrix are best adapted for the study of zoospores. The conjugation of 

zoospores in Ulothrix zonata, a fresh-water species, has been very fully described by Dodel-Port in 

Pringsheim’s Jahrbücher, Vol. X. 

U. FLACCA, (Dillw.) Thuret. (Lyngbya flacca and Carmichaelii, Harv.‚ Phyc. Brit., Pl. 

300 and 186 a.—Hormotrichum Carmichaelii, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, p. 90.) 

Filaments fine, lubricous, greenish yellow, one to three inches long, at first tufted, 

then entangled and forming strata of indefinite extent filaments .014-30 mm in 

diameter, becoming moniliform, cells .003-12 rmm long, generally narrow, discoidal. 

Eastport, Maine., on stones and Rhodymenia, August; Nahant, Mass., Mr. Collins, 

spring; Isles of Shoals, N. H., Mrs. Davis; Europe. 

A species most luxuriant in the spring, but also found in summer. The form found at Eastport was the 

entangled stage which is common on wood-work at low-water mark. 

U. ISOGONA, (Engl. Bot.) Thuret. (Conferva Youngana, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 328.— 

Lyngbya speciosa, 1. C., Pl. 186 b.—Hormotrichum Younganum, Ner. Am. Bor., Part 

III, p. 89.—Urospora penicilliformis, Aresch. in part.) 

Filaments fine, yellowish green, one to three inches long, at first tufted, afterwards 

forming strata, filaments .036-58 mm in diameter, moniliform, cells .015-50 mm long, 

from cuboidal becoming ovate, constriction at nodes marked. 

New York, Harvey; Ives Point, Conn., Mr. Hall; Gloucester, Mrs. Davis; Nahant, Mr. 

Collins; Europe. Spring. 

Distinguished from the last by its greater size and by the marked constriction between the cells at 

maturity. Apparently common on wood-work. Whatever name we may give to this species, it is the 

same form which is common in the northern part of Europe in spring and summer. It is the 

Hormotrichum Younganum of British authors, and the U. isogona of the French. It is the species 

referred by Areschoug, Observationes Phycologicæ, II, Act. Reg. Soc. Scient., Ser. Ill, Vol. 9, to Conferva 

penicilliformis, Roth, and made by him the type of the genus Urospora. Areschoug unites under the 

single species U. penicilliformis the following species of Phycologia Brittanica: Lyngbya speciosa, L. 

Carmichaelii, L. Cutleriæ, L. flacca, and Conferva Youngana. In the present ease we have kept U. 

flacca and U. isogona distinct, but agree with Areschoug in uniting U. speciosa with U. isogona. 

Perhaps a further acquaintance with the species might lead us to unite the present two species under 

Areschoug’s name. 

The Hormotrichum speciosum of Baton’s list of Eastport algæ belongs to another genus. The H. boreale, 

l. c., is unknown to me. 

U. COLLABENS, (Ag.) Thur.? (Conferva collabens, Harv.‚ Phyc. Brit., Pl. 327.— 

Hormotrichum collabens, Kütz Spec. Alg.‚ p. 383.) Filaments tufted, two to six inches 

long deep green, cells from .05-

46 


.18 mm in breadth, once or once and a half as long as broad, nodes constricted. 

To this species is referred, with considerable doubt, a rare Ulothrix found by Mr. Collins at Nahant. 

The filaments are six or seven inches long, very soft, and they can with difficulty be removed from the 

paper on which they are pressed. The cells average from .035-90 mm in breadth by .054-.324 mm in length. 

In Rhode Island Plants, by S. T. Olney, Providence Franklin Society, April, 1847, under No. 1189, is the 

following; “Conferva collabens, Ag.? ‘or near it’—Harv. MSS. Sogonnet Point! Narragansett Pier!” In the 

Nereis Am. Bor., Part III, no. reference is made to C. collabens, Ag., by Harvey, whom Olney quotes in 

his list. Harvey, however, in the Nereis, describes a new species, Chætomorpha Olneyi, which calls to 

mind C. collabens, and perhaps that is the plant referred to by Mr. Olney. 

CHÆTOMORPHA, Kütz. 

(From χαιτη [chaite], hair, and µορφη [morphe], shape.) 

Filaments grass green, coarse and rigid, unbranched, either attached in tufts or 

floating in masses, cells variable in length, often much longer than broad. 

The species of this genus may be divided into two groups. In the first the filaments arise in tufts from a 

definite base. In the second the filaments are twisted together and form intricate masses, which rest 

upon stones and other algæ. It may be a question whether the members of the last-named group are not 

the advanced stage of the species of the first group, which, us they have developed, have become 

twisted together and torn from their attachments. It would be comparatively a simple matter to classify 

our own species taken by themselves, but in comparing them with foreign species it becomes very 

complicated in consequence of the confusion of names applied to some of the common European species. 

We can only briefly mention the synonyms, which are almost hopelessly confused. 

C. MELAGONIUM, (Web. & Mohr.) Kütz. (Conferva Melagonium, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 99 a.) 

Filaments erect, base scutate, coarse and wiry, dark glaucous green, cells .4-5 mm 

broad by .4-7 mm long. 

In tide-pools. 

Common from Boston northward; Northern Europe. 

The most easily recognized species of the genus with us. It grows in deep tide-pools, attached to pebbles 

and rocks. The filaments can be recognized at a distance by their dark glaucous-green color and 

rigidity. It is generally a foot or more in length, and the filaments are usually free, but become more or 

less twisted together. It does not adhere well to paper in drying, and in spite of its coarseness it does 

not bear immersion in fresh water. 

C. ÆREA, (Dillw.) Kütz. (Conferva ærea, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 99 b.) 

Filaments erect, base scutate, setaceous, yellowish green, cells .25-40 mm long by .15- 

30 mm broad. 

In high-tide pools. 

New York Harbor, Harvey; New Haven, Prof. Eaton; Newport, Bailey; Gloucester; 

Europe. 

This species has a wider range than the last, being found not only in the north of Europe, but also in 

the Mediterranean and other warm seas. With us it is not


uncommon in Long Island Sound, but is little known north of Cape Cod. It grows in pools, sometimes 

near high-water mark, and resembles in habit C. melagonium, from which it differs in color, in being 

much less rigid, and in the smaller size of its cells. As found on our coast, the filaments are rather more 

slender than the average of European specimens. 

C. PICQUOTIANA, (Mont.) Kütz. (Conferva Picquotiana, Ann. Scien. Nat., 3d Ser., Vol. 

XI, p. 66.—Chætomorpha Piquotiana, Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, p. 85, Pl. 46 c.) 

Filaments prostrate, intricately twisted together in masses, rigid, dark-green, cells 

.2-4 mm broad by .2-1.6 mm long, slightly oval in shape. 

Deep water, and washed ashore. 

Rather common from Boston northward; Staten Island, Harvey; Gay Head, Mass. 

This species was first described by Montagne from specimens collected by Lamare-Picquot in Labrador. 

It is the largest of our prostrate Chætomorphæ, and north of Boston is not uncommon on beaches after 

a storm, but it has not been seen in tide-pools. The localities South of Cape Cod perhaps need revision. 

We have found the species washed ashore at Gay Head, from deep water. It reminds one of C. 

melagonium by its color, rigidity, and size of the filaments, and it seems to us probable that it is merely 

an advanced stage of that species which has broken from its attachments and become entangled 

without having lost its power of growth. It is certainly very unlikely that any alga of this suborder is 

throughout its whole period of existence unattached. The cells differ from those of C. melagonium in 

being sometimes several times longer than broad, but, on the other hand, they frequently are found no 

longer than broad. If the species is really distinct and not an older stage of C. melagonium, as we 

suspect, it is the largest and coarsest of our species, and is to be compared with C. torulosa, Zan, of 

which we have examined specimens collected by Hauck at Pirano, in the Adriatic. In drying, our species 

does not adhere to paper, and the cells contract at the joints so as to give a toruloid appearance. 

C. LINUM, (Flor. Dan.) Kütz. (Conferva Linum, Crouan, Algues Marines du Finistère, 

No. 353.—Conferva Linum, Areschoug, Alg. Scand., No. 183.—Chætomorpha 

herbacea, Kütz., in Hohenacker’s Meeralgen, No. 355.—Chætomorpha Linum, Kütz., 

Spec. Alg., p. 378.—Chætomorphasutoria, (Berk.) Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part 3, p. 

87.—Non Conferva Linum, Alg. Danmon., No. 220, nec Rhizoclonium Linum, Herb. 

Thuret.) 

Filaments prostrate, intricately twisted together in masses, rigid, bright green, cells 

.20-25 mm broad by .20-30 mm long, about as broad as long. 

Just below low-water mark. 

Common in Long Island Sound; Nahant, Ten Pound Island, Gloucester, Mass.; 

Europe. 

The confusion which has arisen from the application of the name Conferva Linum to different species 

and the useless multiplication of names, especially on the part of Kützing, makes it exceedingly 

difficult to ascertain the name of this common species on our coast. It forms strata of considerable 

extent upon rocks and gravel just below

48 


low-water mark. It can be distinguished from the preceding species by its lighter color, by being less 

rigid, and by the smaller size of the cells, which are rather uniformly as broad as long. If we may 

suspect that C. Picquotiana is only a form of C. melagonium, we may also suggest that the present is 

possibly the corresponding form of C. ærea. To unravel the synonymy of the species is quite hopeless. 

Our specimens agree with No. 353 of Crouan’s Algues Marines du Finistère and No. 183 of Areschoug’s 

Algæ Scandinavicæ, both of which are supposed to be the Conferva Linum. of the Flora Danica. They 

are also identical with No. 355 of Hohenacker’s Meeralgen, which purports to have been determined as 

C. herbacea, Kg., by Kützing himself. Whether they are the same as the Conferva Linum of the 

Phycologia Brittanica we cannot determine. They approach very near to, if they are not identical with, 

C. crassa of the Italian algologists. In fact, Crouan considers C. Linum, Pl. Dan., to be the same as C. 

crassa, Ag. The Chætomorpha sutoria of the Nereis Am. Bor. seems to us the same thing. We have 

examined Bailey’s specimens, from which Harvey named the species in the Nereis, and have also 

examined. Bailey’s locality, at Stonington. To the naked eye, in Bailey’s specimens, the filaments 

appear smaller than the typical form, but a microscopic examination gives the same measurements as 

specimens we collected ourselves, which agreed precisely with No. 353, Crouan. In saying that the New 

England specimens of C. sutoria should be considered to be rather C. Linum, we do not mean to imply 

that the European C. sutoria is not distinct. Whether our species is the same as Rhizoclonium Linum, 

Thuret, is, perhaps, doubtful. In specimens of the last-named species from Cherbourg the filaments 

appear to be somewhat smaller. The species usually, but not always, loses its color drying, and scarcely 

adheres to paper unless under considerable pressure. 

species inquirendæ. 

C. OLNEYI, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, p. 86, Pl. 46 d. 

“Filaments tufted, setaceous, straight or curved, soft, pale green; articulations once 

and a half as long as broad.” (Harvey, l. c.) 

Rhode Island, Olney. 

C. LONGIARTICULATA, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, p. 86, Pl. 46 e. 

“Filaments capillary, curved, loosely bundled together, flaccid, soft, pale green; 

articulations 4-6 times as long as broad, swollen at the nodes; var. β, crassior, 

filaments more robust.” (Harvey, 1. c.) 

In rock-pools, between tide-marks. Ship Anne Point, Mr. Hooper; Boston Bay, Mrs. 

Asa Gray; Little Compton, Mr. Olney; var. β in brackish ditches at Little Compton, 

Mr. Olney. 

The two last species are only known from the descriptions in the Nereis. No authentic specimens exist 

in the Olney Herbarium, which is now the property of Brown University. The specimen of C. Olneyi 

mentioned in Algæ Rhodiaceæ by Olney was determined by the present writer, not by Harvey himself, 

and a recent examination of the specimen, for which we are indebted to the kindness of Professor 

Bailey, lead us to think that the specimen was not correctly determined. 

RHIZOCLONIUM, Kütz. 

(From ριζον [rizon], a root, and κλων [klon], a branch.) 

Filaments decumbent, entangled, branches short and root-like. 

The genus is easily recognized, as a rule, by the root-like character of the branches. In some species the 

branches are frequent; in others, however, they are only occasionally


found, and in that case the species may easily be mistaken for species of Chætomorpha. 

R. RIPARIUM, Roth, Harv. Phyc. Brit., Pl. 328. (R. salinum, Kütz.) Filaments 

decumbent, pale green, forming entangled masses, furnished with numerous short 

root-like branches, generally consisting of but few cells, but sometimes elongated, 

filaments from .02 mm to .025 mm in diameter, cells about as long as broad, or a little 

longer. Pl. III, Fig. 2. Eastport, Maine; Nahant, Wood’s Holl, Mass., W. G. F; New 

Haven, Conn., Prof. D. G. Eaton; Europe. 

An alga which is probably common all along the coast on wood-work and sandy rocks between tidemarks. 

It forms thin light-green masses on the substance on which it is growing. The root-like 

processes usually consist of not more than three or four cells, and not unfrequently they fork. 

Distinguished at sight from the next by its yellowish color. It often covers the ground at the base of 

Spartina, and it is found nearer high-water mark than the next species. 

R. TORTUOSUM, Kütz. (Conferva implexa and tortuosa, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 54 a 

and b.—Chætomorpha tortuosa, Ner. Am. Bor.) 

Filaments dark green, very much curled and twisted, forming prostrate masses, 

diameter of filaments, .035 mm to .058 mm , cells about twice as long as broad, branches 

few, short; 

Common all along the New England coast; Europe. 

The most common species of our coast, recognized by its dark-green color, and by the very much twisted 

filaments which form woolly strata over other algæ. Its favorite habitat is in tide-pools, where it is 

exposed at dead low water. 

R. KOCHIANUM, Kütz. (Conferva arenosa, Crouan, Algues Marines du Finistère, No. 

355.—Conferva implexa, var., Alg. Scand., No. 187.—Rhizoclonium Kochianum, 

Kütz., in Le Jolis’s Liste des Algues Marines de Cherbourg.) 

Filaments pale yellow, forming loose masses of indefinite extent, cells .010-14 mm 


On algæ below low-water mark. Summer. 

Gloucester, Mass.; Nahant, Mass., Mr. Collins; Europe. 

Much finer than any of the species previously mentioned, covering algæ with a delicate pale-yellow 

fleece. It is apparently less common than our other two species, and we have only found it once growing 

over Laminariæ just below low-water mark, off Niles’s Beach, Gloucester. The species agrees with 

French specimens of R. Kochianum in the size and general appearance of the cells, but the root-like 

processes characteristic of the present genus are not evident in our specimens, and the species is here 

retained in Rhizoclonium on the authority of Kützing, in Le Jolis’s Liste des Algues Marines de 

Cherbourg. R. Kochianum is considered by Rabenhorst to be a variety of R. flavicans, Jürg., in which he 

also includes Conferva arenicola of Berk. Our specimens agree perfectly with No. 355 of Crouan’s 

Algues Marine du Finistère, but are rather smaller than No. 187 of Areschoug’s Algæ Scandinavicæ, 

which is referred with doubt to Conferva arenosa. The name which we have adopted refers our 

specimens without doubt to French forms, but the identity with the genuine C. arenosa of British 

botanists 

S. Miss. 59——4

50 


still remains to be settled. The species does not adhere well to paper, and would probably, at first sight, 

be referred by collectors to Chætomorpha rather than to Rhizoclonium. 

CLADOPHORA, Kütz. 

(From κλαδος [klados], a branch, and φορεω [phoreo], to bear.) 

Filaments firm, not gelatinous, branching throughout. 

A genus including the greater part of the branching Chlorosporeæ, which are found both in salt and 

fresh water. It differs from Ulothrix and Chætomorpha in having branching filaments, and from 

Rhizoclonium in having well-developed branches and not mere rhizoidal growths. The species abound 

on rocks and in tide-pools, as well as in ditches and shallow bays along the shore, and usually grow in 

tufts. Some of the species, however, especially those growing in brackish ditches, at maturity form 

dense layers upon the surface of the water or on the bottom. The number of described species of the 

genus is immense, but, in all probability, a great part are not distinct. It is at present impossible 

correctly to refer the New England species to European forms, since European botanists by no means 

agree as to their own species, and there has been a tendancy [sic] on the part of algologists of different 

countries to ignore the species of other countries in studying their own. The principal specific character 

is the mode of branching, which, in the present genus, is at best an uncertain mark. The young and old 

plants of the same species often differ very much in the appearance of the branches, so that the habit 

varies at different seasons. When old, some species are usually torn from their attachments and 

washed ashore in large masses, and, in this battered condition, it is often impossible to recognize the 

species, or perhaps even to distinguish the specimens from Rhizoclonium species. Unfortunately, 

names have been given to the battered forms until there is such a labyrinth of synonyms that one is 

tempted to reject all but a few well-marked species. In the present instance we have attempted merely 

to compare our specimens with those in the Algæ Danmonienses, the Algues Marines du Finistère, the 

Algæ Scandinavicæ of Areschoug, and with specimens received from Dr. Bornet, M. Le Jolis, Dr. 

Kjellman, and Dr. Wittrock. It is to be hoped that some responsible algologist will undertake the 

revision of this much-abused genus. 

SUBGENUS SPONGOMORPHA, Kütz. 

Plants spongy, at least towards the base, owing to the interlacing of the branches, 

some of which are strongly recurved and rhizoidal. 

C. ARCTA, (Dillw.). (Cladophora arcta, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 135.) 

Filaments slender, two to eight inches long, tufted and densely matted at base, 

becoming free and divergent above, color a bright green; branches near the base 

strongly recurved and interlaced, upper branches erect or appressed, numerous, 

opposite or scattered, apices obtuse; cells at base about twice as long as broad, cells 

of upper portion several times longer than broad, average diameter of cells about 

.08 mm . 

On rocks between tide marks. Winter and spring. 

Common along the whole coast; Europe. 

One of the few species which are recognized without difficulty, although it varies considerably in aspect 

at different seasons. When young the filaments are but slightly matted together, .except at the very 

base, and the species is then the C. vaucheriæformis


of Agardh; but when old they become spongy nearly to the tip, and constitute the C. centralis of some 

authors. The species is, as a rule, easily distinguished by its bright-green color and erect or appressed 

branches in the upper portion of the plant. The plant preserves its beautiful green color, and adheres to 

paper except when very old and spongy. 

C. LANOSA, (Roth) Kütz. (C. lanosa, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 6.) 

Tufts more or less globose; filaments one to three inches long, densely matted, color 

at first bright green, but soon becoming pale yellow; branches long, numerous, 

irregularly placed, often secund, given off at wide angles; cells .03-4 mm in breadth, as 

long as broad in lower part, becoming in upper part several times longer than broad. 

On Chondrus crispus and other algæ. 

Gloucester, Nahant, Mass.; common. Europe. Spring and early summer. 

Var. UNCIALIS, Thuret. (Cl. uncialis, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 207.) 

Filaments longer and looser than in the type, and of a lighter color. 

On sandy rocks. 

Long Island Sound; Nahant and Gloucester, Mass.; common. Spring. Europe. 

An easily recognized species, probably common along the whole coast in spring and early summer. It 

grows attached to sea-weeds or to sand-covered rocks at low tide and below, and is often washed ashore 

in considerable quantities. It forms globose tufts, which, when growing, are bright green, but which 

soon lose their color, and, on drying, became pale and silky. The var. uncialis, which is more common in 

Long Island Sound, is less dense and forms looser tufts than the type. It does not adhere very well to 

paper. 

SUBGENUS EUCLADOPHORA. 

Plants tufted, or, at times, stratose, not united into spongy masses by rhizoidal 

branches or recurved branches. 

C. RUPESTRIS, (Linn.) Kütz., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 180. 

Filaments five to ten inches long, rigid, dark green, tufted; branches crowded, 

usually opposite or in fours, ultimate branches given off at an acute angle, short, 

subulate; cells constricted at the joints, average diameter of cells .08-16 mm . 

On rocks near low water mark. 

Common along the whole coast throughout the year; Europe. 

Recognized by its dark green color and rigidity, and by the numerous appressed ramuli which are given 

off two or three at a joint. 

C. ALBIDA, (Huds.) Kütz., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 275. 

Filaments slender, silky, forming dense tufts from a few inches to a foot long, color a 

pale green; branches irregular, often opposite,

52 


ultimate branches long, given off at wide angles; cells .02-3 mm in diameter, cell-wall 

delicate, terminal cells blunt. 

Staten Island, Beesley’s Point, New York Bay, Harvey; in pools, Newport, R. I.; 

Europe. Summer. 

Not yet observed north of Cape Cod. The species is recognized by forming dense tufts of a pale color and 

almost spongy consistency. The sponginess, however, is not, as in the subgenus Spongomorpha, due to 

the interlacing of short recurved branches and rhizoidal filaments, but to the fineness of the filaments, 

which are densely twisted together. The cells do not vary much in diameter throughout. This species, 

when dried, loses most of its color, and does not adhere well to paper. 

C. REFRACTA, (Roth) Areschoug. (Non C. refracta, Alg. Danmon., No. 228, nec Phyc. 

Brit., Pl. 24.) 

Filaments rather rigid, forming tufts from 2-8 inches long, color a glaucous green; 

branches flexuous, clothed throughout with nearly equal, short, frequently opposite 

branchlets, which are at first patent and furnished with erect or corymbose, 

afterwards reflexed, branchlets; cells .03-8 mm in diameter, terminal cells blunt. 

Common in deep tide-pools and on stones and sea-weeds at low-water mark 

throughout our limits. Spring and summer. Northern Europe. 

We have refrained from quoting any synonyms in the description just given. The species, as we 

understand it, is one common in rocky places where the water is pure. It forms rather short tufts of a 

somewhat glaucous green, which is paler when the plant grows exposed to the sun. The branchlets, 

which are in general short, are at first erect, but, as usually found, are somewhat corymbose and 

ultimately decompound and reflexed. It is rather rigid and does not collapse when removed from the 

water. In drying it sometimes retains its color, but usually becomes yellowish and does not adhere well 

to paper. What we have described seems to be the C. refracta of Harvey’s Nereis, but we have refrained 

from quoting the localities given by Harvey. The C. refracta of the French coast is considered by Le 

Jolis to be a variety of C. albida. The same is not true of our species, which is certainly distinct from C. 

albida. It may be that we have also the refracted variety of C. albida on our coast, but we have never 

met with it. The present species is much coarser and differs in habit and ramification from the C. 

albida of New England, which agrees well with European specimens. The American C. refracta is much 

nearer to, if not identical with, the species published by Areschoug in the Algæ Scandinavicæ, 2d series, 

No. 338, as C. refracta, (Roth). In coarseness it approaches C. lætevirens, but it certainly is not the same 

as No. 143, Algæ Danmonienses, which Harvey considers to be C. lætevirens. In short, we think that 

the C. refracta of New England is not the species to which the French botanists apply that name, but 

probably the species of Areschoug. Whether it is really the Conferva refracta of Roth is a point on which 

we can only follow the authority of others. At any rate, after the explanation given, the name can be 

retained without causing greater confusion than has hitherto existed. 

C. GLAUCESCENS, (Griff.) Harv. (Cl. glaucescens, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 196.—Cl. pseudosericea, 

Crouan, Alg. Finist., No. 367.) 

Filaments loosely tufted, 3-12 inches long, much branched, color light green; 

branches erect, pectinate, ultimate branchlets elongated, erect,


given off at an acute angle; cells with delicate cell-wall, .03-6 mm in diameter, 

terminal cells acute. 

On stones and wood-work near low-water mark. Summer. 

From Halifax, N. S., to Charleston, S. C., Harvey; Newport, R. 1.5 Europe. 

A delicate species which is characterized by its light color, loosely tufted habit, and slender branches, 

which are all given off at uniformly acute angles. When growing in exposed localities the tufts are 

short, but in quiet bays they become long and loose. This species, which has the light color and slender 

filaments of C. albida, differs from that species in not being spongy in consistence and in the length of 

the ultimate branchlets, which are always erect. Our Newport species resemble very closely the No. 120 

b of Wittrock and Nordstedt, Algæ Scandinavicæ, which is considered by them a form of C. crystallina, 

(Roth), but differs from the Cl. crystallina of the algologists of Southern Europe. It may be remarked 

that Cl. glaucescens, (Griff.) Harv., has been referred to other older species, but not knowing the limits 

of C. crystallina, (Roth), and C. sericea, (Huds.), we have adhered to the latter name, as has also been 

done by Le Jolis and other French algologists. This species generally becomes very pale in drying and 

adheres well to paper. 

The variety β, pectinella, of this species, mentioned by Harvey in the Nereis Am. Bor. as occurring in 

Charleston Harbor, is not known on our northern coast. In the variety the branches are said to be 

recurved. 

C. LÆTEVIRENS, (Dillw.) Harv., Alg. Danmon., No. 142; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 190. 

Filaments much branched, rigid, forming loose tufts 3-6 inches long, color a 

yellowish green; branches fastigiate, erect, often opposite or in threes, ultimate 

branches secund, of few cells, apex obtuse; diameter of cells .05-.15 mm . 


New York Bay; Boston, Harvey; Gloucester, Mass., Mrs Davis. 

A rather robust species, recognized by the denseness of the branches, which are crowded at the tips. 

Less robust and differing from C. Hutchinsiæ in having fastigiate branches. We have only seen one 

specimen, collected by Mrs. Davis, which corresponded exactly to the C. lætevirens of Algæ 

Danmonienses and to the C. lætevirens of the Nereis Am. Bor. It is doubtful whether the forms to which 

the same name has been given by French botanists belong to the same species as our own. Some of 

them, at least, appear to belong to a more slender and less densely branching species. The species does 

not adhere well to paper in drying. 

C. HUTCHINSIÆ, (Dillw.) Kütz. (Cl. Hutchinsiæ, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 124.—Cl. diffusa, 

Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 130.) 

Filaments rigid, glaucous green, flexuous, forming loose tufts 6-12 inches long; 

branches scattered, rather distant; ultimate branches few, short, secund; cells .10- 

24 mm in diameter. 


Gloucester, Mass., Mrs. Davis. 

A single specimen which seems unmistakably to belong to this species was collected by Mrs. Davis. The 

species, which is one of the coarsest on the coast, is distinguished

54 


by the large size of the filaments and remoteness of the branches, together with the shortness of the 

ultimate branches. The Cladophora diffusa of the Phycologia Brittanica is now considered, with good 

reason, to be a form of C. Hutchinsiæ in which the branches are very long and nearly destitute of 

branchlets. Probably the Cladophora diffusa? of the Nereis Am. Bor., said by Harvey to be found in 

“New York Sound,” is to be referred to the present species. Specimens which correspond well enough to 

the C. diffusa of the Algæ Danmonienses, No. 144, have been collected by Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Bray at 

Gloucester. 

C. FLEXUOSA, (Griff.) Harv. 

“Filaments very slender, pale green, tufted, flexuous, sparingly and distantly 

branched; branches elongate, subsimple, of unequal length, flexuous, sometimes 

nearly naked, sometimes ramuliferous; the ultimate ramuli secund or alternate, 

short or long, curved; articulations of the branches 3-4 times, of the ramuli twice as 

long as broad.” (Nereis Am. Bor., Part III. p. 78.) 

Rocks between tide-marks, &c. 

Hingham and Boston, Mass.; Jackson Ferry and Hell Gate, N. Y. 

We have quoted from the Nereis Am. Bor. the description given by Harvey of the present species, and 

have purposely refrained from adding any localities of our own. Harvey considers C. flexuosa very 

nearly related to Cl. glaucescens, if indeed it is distinct from it. On the other hand, the greater part of 

the French specimens of C. flexuosa which we have seen are quite distinct from C. glaucescens, and 

seem to approach some of the forms of C. gracilis. We have frequently seen at Wood’s Holl, Newport, 

and Gloucester specimens which correspond pretty well with the C. flexuosa of Alg. Danmon, No. 227. 

As we understand the species, it is more rigid than Cl. glaucescens, and has shorter branches, which 

are at times refracted. The cells are .02-6 mm in diameter and not more than two or three times as long 

as broad as a rule. Le Jolis states that C. flexuosa lines the bottom of pools. The American forms which 

we would refer to this species are found in pools on rather exposed rocky shores. 

C. MORRISIÆ, Harv. 

“Tufts elongate, dense, somewhat interwoven, dark green; filaments very slender, 

much and irregularly branched; the penultimate branches very long, filiform, 

flexuous, simple, set with alternate or secund, short, erecto-patent ramuli, some of 

which are simple and spine-like, others pectinated on their upper side; articulations 

filled with dense endochrome, in the branches 2-3 times, in the ramuli about twice 

as long as broad, cylindrical, not contracted at the nodes.” (Harvey, Nereis Am. Bor., 

Part III, p. 79, Pl. 45 b.) 

Elsinborough, Del., Miss Morris. 

We only know this species from the description and plate of Harvey. 

C. Rudolphiana, Ag. 

Filaments very long and gelatinous, forming loose tufts one or two feet long, color 

yellowish green; branches opposite or irregular, very long and flexuous, given off at 

wide angles, clothed with long, secund,


tapering branchlets; cells .02-8 mm in. diameter, those of the main branches many 

times longer than broad. 

On stones and covering algæ just below low-water mark. Summer. 

Jackson Ferry, N. Y., Harvey; Wood’s Holl, Mass.; Europe. 

One of the longest but at the same time most delicate of the genus. It forms intricately branching tufts, 

one or two feet long, attached to stones, or covers with a soft fleece algæ and Zostera growing in still, 

shallow bays, like the Little Harbor at Wood’s Holl. It is more or less gelatinous and at once collapses 

on being removed from the water and adheres closely to paper in drying. In drying the cells shrivel very 

much, and the coloring matter is collected at the ends of the cells, which, in the main branches, are 

much longer than broad, and on moistening the cells do not recover their shape as readily as in other 

species. 

C. GRACILIS, (Griff.) Kütz. 

Filaments loosely tufted, 3-12 inches long, irregularly bent, provided at the angles 

with rather short branches, which are pectinate, with long recurved or incurved 

branchlets; color a yellowish green; cells .04-16 mm in diameter. 

On wharves or in muddy pools. 

New Haven, Prof. Eaton; Wood’s Holl, Mass. 

α. Var. EXPANSA. 

Very irregularly branched, forming masses one to two feet in extent. 

Muddy pools. 

β. Gloucester, Nahant, Mass. 

Var. TENUIS, Thuret. (Cl. vadorum, Aresch.) 

Branches remote, filaments more slender than in the type, .04-8 mm in diameter. 

Growing over Laminariæ. 

Gloucester.? 

A common and variable species, growing in rather muddy sheltered places and not on exposed spots. In 

its typical form it is recognized by its very irregular branches, which are more divergent than in most 

other species, and by its pectinate branchlets, which are at times flabellate. The species, although 

rather delicate in substance, is much stouter than C. albida or C. glaucescens, and does not adhere well 

to paper. The form which we have referred to, var. tennis, Thuret, is doubtful. It formed masses of 

indefinite extent on Laminariæ and other algæ below low-water mark off Niles’s Beach, Gloucester. 

What we have called var. expansa resembles somewhat C. expansa, Kütz., and like it is found in muddy 

places. It. does not, however, form the dense masses of the last-named species, but floats loosely in the 

water in shallow places. The ordinary forms of the species are recognized without much difficulty, but 

one sometimes meets forms which are long and almost denuded of branches, in which case 

determination is difficult. 

C. EXPANSA, Kütz. 

Filaments of a dull-green color, at first tufted, then matted together, forming 

extensive strata; main branches irregularly flexuous, .10-15 mm

56 


in diameter, clothed with secondary branches, which are divaricately divided and 

furnished with secund ultimate branches; cells several times longer than broad. 

In brackish ditches. Summer. 

Wood’s Holl; Maiden, Mass. 

To the present species may be referred the greater part of the New England specimens of brackish 

water referred to C. fracta. It is at first tufted, but soon rises to the top of shallow ditches and coves, 

and forms an intricately interwoven mass. It is distinguished from C. fracta by the greater size of the 

main branches and the fact that the diameter of the secondary branches is always much less than that 

of the main branches, whereas in the true C. fracta the branches gradually diminish in size. In some 

specimens the branches are clothed at intervals with very short fasciculated ramuli. The species when 

in its tufted condition resembles some of the forms of C. gracilis. It also approaches the C. fracta of the 

Algæ Danmonienses, said by Harvey to be rather C. flavescens. 

C. FRACTA, (Fl. Dan.) Kütz. 

“Tufts irregular, entangled, often detached, and then forming floating strata, dull 

green; filaments rather rigid, distantly branched, the lesser branches somewhat 

dichotomous, spreading, with very wide axils; the ramuli few, alternate or secund; 

articulations 3-6 times as long as broad, at first cylindrical, then elliptical, with 

contracted nodes.” (Harvey, Nereis Am. Bor., Part III, p. 83.) 

Salt-water ditches and ponds. 

West Point, Prof. Bailey; Beesley’s Point, Ashmead; New York, Walters; Baltimore, 

Md. 

We have quoted from the Nereis the description given by Harvey. It is doubtful whether under the 

name C. fracta he referred to the species of that name as recognized by Scandinavian botanists. The 

only marine locality of this species which we have examined is in the vicinity of the Marine Hospital, 

Baltimore. As we understand the species, it is much finer than C. expansa, the cells being from .02-8 mm 

in diameter, those of the main branches tapering gradually into those of the secondary branches, while 

in the last-named species the transition is sudden. The branches are less numerous and more irregular 

in their mode of branching in C. fracta than in C. expansa. 

C. MAGDALENÆ, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 335 a. 

Filaments one to three inches long, decumbent, entangled, coarse, blackish green; 

branches given off at obtuse angles, flexuous, with very few curved, irregularly 

placed branchlets; cells .04-8 mm in diameter, about 2-4 times as long as broad. 

Napatree Point, R. L, Prof. Eaton. 

This rather unsightly and insignificant species is recognized by its procumbent habit and dingy green 

color, and by having but few branches, which are arranged without any definite order, and are given off 

at very obtuse angles from the main filaments. It may be doubted whether the species is not a reduced 

form of some other.


BULBOCOLEON, Pringsh. 

(From βολβος [bolbos], a bulb, and κολεον [koleon], a sheath.) 

Filaments branching, creeping, composed of two kinds of cells, one producing 

numerous zoospores, the other bulbous at the base but drawn out into a tube, from 

the open extremity of which projects a long flexible hair. 

This genus, consisting of a single species, was first described by Pringsheim in the Abhandlungen der 

königl. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin, 1862, who founded it upon a small alga parasitic in the 

fronds of Leathesia and other Phæosporeæ, at Helgoland. 

The genus resembles Coleochæte, a fresh-water genus, in the structure of the hairs, but in Bulbocoleon 

no reproductive bodies, except zoospores produced in the ordinary cells, have as yet been discovered. It 

is not impossible that oospores may at some time be found, and it will then be necessary to remove the 

genus from the present order. 

B. PILIFERUM, Pringsheim, l. c., p. 8, Pl. I. 

Characters same as those of the genus. 

Parasitic in the fronds of Leathesia tuberiformis and Chordaria divaricata. Summer. 

Newport, R. I.; Wood’s Holl, Gloucester, Mass.; Europe. 

This minute species is found creeping among the cortical cells of Leathesia and Chordaria, generally in 

company with a Streblonema. It forms dark spots on the fronds, and, on microscopic examination, the 

hyaline hairs are seen projecting above the surface. The species is studied with difficulty when 

parasitic on Leathesia, owing to the density of the cortical part of the frond, but is more easily 

examined when it grows on Chordaria. It was found by Pringsheim on Chorda filum, Chordaria 

flagelliformis, and Mesogloia vermicularis, as well as on Leathesia. It probably will be found on several 

other Phæosporeæ of our coast, where it appears to be common. 

The following genus described by Reinsch, including a species of which we have not been able to 

examine specimens, should be included in the account of the Chlorosporeæ of our coast: 

ACROBLASTE, new genus of Chroolepideæ. 

Plants microscopic, marine, forming densely aggregated tufts attached to stones and shells; threads 

erect, subsimple, branching from the base, arising from procumbent, densely interlaced threads; 

conceptacles in the upper part of the branches nearly spherical, at first unicellular, afterwards 

producing 20-35 spherical zoospores; after the discharge of zoospores elliptical, with a wide mouth; 

development of the branches and growth of the threads as in Chroolepus and Cladophora. 

Acroblaste, spec. Contents of cells finely granular, distinctly circumscribed; color slightly glaucous 

green; cell-wall thick, sublamellated, twice as long as broad. 

Height of plant, .336-.6 mm . 

Diameter of filaments, .0050-80 mm . 

Diameter of conceptacles, .0168-196 mm . 

Diameter of zoospores, .0022 mm . 

Hab.—Attached to shells and stones, Buzzard’s Bay, Mass. 

Reinsch., in Botanische Zeitung, 1879, No. 23, Pl. 3 a.

58 


SUBORDER BOTRYDIEÆ. 

Fronds minute green unicellar [sic], spherical or pyriform, with a rhizoidal process 

at the base. Globose bodies produced in the cells, from which, when discharged, 

there is formed a large number of zoospores, with two cilia, which conjugate. 

A small suborder, of which the development is known only in a single species, B. granulatum, of which 

Rostafinski and Woronin have given a full account. Probably the suborder may require to be united 

with the Siphoneæ, a group abundant in the tropics, but not strictly found with us. 

CODIOLUM, A. Br. 

(Named from the resemblance to species of Codium, a genus of marine algæ.) 

Frond unicellular, at the base prolonged into a tapering, solid, hyaline stalk, above 

clavate, containing an oval chloropyllaceous mass, which ultimately is transformed 

into a large number of spores, development of spores unknown. 

The present genus was founded by A. Braun on a species found by him at Helgoland in 1852 and 

described and figured in his work on unicellular algæ. A second species (C. Nordenskioldianum) was 

described by Kjellman. 

The genus is placed by Braun and Kjellman near Characium, but until the development of the spores 

has been made out the position of the genus must remain doubtful. Braun compares the spores to those 

of Codium, but states that he had never seen cilia. In American specimens we have never seen the 

spores escape from the mother cell and swim about by means of cilia, but, on the other hand, the wall of 

the mother cell dissolves and the spores thus set free begin to grow at once. It often happens that the 

spores begin to grow inside the mother cell. The spores are oval and have a thick wall. Each spore 

either gives off a projection at one end, which grows into a long stalk, or else the contents of the spore 

become divided into a small number of cells by means of cross-partitions at right angles to its longer 

axis, thus forming a short filament, each cell of which gives off a stalk as previously described. There 

results in the last case a dense cluster of individuals, which adhere together by their bases. It may be 

that what we have seen was only the hypnosporic condition of the plant, and that Braun had examined 

a stage in which motile spores existed. Occasionally one finds two spore-bearing cells on a single stalk, 

one always being very much smaller than the other. The second cell is lateral and may be nearly sessile 

on the stalk or furnished with a short secondary stalk of its own. 

Our plant recalls the hypnosporic condition of Botrydium granulatum, and in the Algæ Am. Bor. Exs. it 

was distributed under the name of B. gregarium. As the development is so little known, we have now 

thought best to retain the name Codiolum, on the supposition that our species is the same as that of 

Braun. The study of the development is rendered difficult because the plant grows inextricably 

entangled with other small algæ. 

C. GREGARIUM, A. Br. (C. gregarium, Braun, Alg. Unicell., Genera nova et minus 

cognita, p. 20, Pl. 1.—Botrydium gregarium, Farlow, in Alg. Am. Bor. Exs., No. 99.) 

Cells densely aggregated, average length of cells, including stalk,


.35-60 mm , sporiferous mass .04-8 mm broad by .10-15 mm long. Spores .015 mm by .020 mm . 

On wharves and rocks between tide-marks, mixed with Calothrix scopulorum and 

Ulothrix. 

Eastport, Me.; Gloucester, Mass.; Europe. 

Probably common in the autumn along our northern coast, and at once recognized by the long terminal 

stalk, which appears to be an appendage of the cell-wall. The size is so variable that no accurate 

measurements as to length can be given. Those above stated represent the size of fully-grown 

sporiferous individuals. 

SUBORDER BRYOPSIDEÆ. 

Fronds green, unicellar [sic], filamentous, branching; reproduction by zoospores, 

with two cilia, formed in the occluded branches. 

A small suborder, including with us a single species of Bryopsis and a single species of Derbesia, a 

genus whose position is uncertain and which may prove to be more nearly related to Vaucheria than to 

Bryopsis, although in the present article we have placed it with the latter. 

BRYOPSIS, Lam. 

(From βρυον [bryon], a moss, and οψις [opsis], an appearance.) 

Fronds bright-green, unicellular, branching, usually pinnately divided; reproduction 

by spores formed in occluded portions of the branches; spores of two (?) kinds—either 

green zoospores, furnished with two apical cilia, or orange-colored. 

The genus Bryopsis includes perhaps not far from twenty species, which are characterized by the mode 

of branching. Most of them are pinnately compound, and the different forms pass so gradually into one 

another that the species cannot be said to be well marked. The fronds are unicellular except at the 

period of reproduction, when some of the smaller branches are separated by partitions from the rest of 

the frond. The position of the genus is still doubtful, as the development is not known. The reproductive 

bodies generally found are green zoospores which have two terminal cilia. Whether they conjugate or 

not is not known, although as Thuret reports the occurrence of zoospores with four cilia, such is 

probably the case. A second form of reproductive bodies was found by Pringsheim in Bryopsis, orangecolored 

motile bodies furnished with two terminal cilia. The development of these bodies has not been 

observed. Janczewski and Rostafinski have expressed the opinion that they may be parasites, but 

Cornu confirms the statement of Pringsheim that they are really organs of the Bryopsis. 

B. PLUMOSA, (Huds.) Ag., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 3. Pl. IV, Fig. 1. 

Fronds 2-6 inches long, often gregarious, 2-4 times pinnate, pinnules pyramidal in 

outline, naked at the base, in the upper part clothed with short pinnulæ, which are 

constricted at base. 

On muddy wharves and stones at low-water mark. 

A beautiful species, not uncommon along our whole eastern coast, and also frequently

60 


found on the shores of California. It is very widely diffused, being found in nearly all seas. B. hypnoides, 

which occurs at Key West, passes almost insensibly into B. plumosa, but the typical B. hypnoides is not 

known in New England. 

? DERBESIA, Sol. 

(Named in honor of Prof. Alphonse Derbes of Marseilles.) 

Fronds green, simple or slightly branching, unicellular, or sometimes with crosspartitions 

at the base of the branches; fructification consisting of ovoidal sporangia 

containing zoospores, which are of large size and have a hyaline papilla at one end, 

at the base of which is a circle of cilia; oospores unknown. 

The genus Derbesia was founded by Solier on two Mediterranean species, D. marina and D. 

Lamourouxii. The position of the genus is. doubtful. The Derbesiæ resemble in habit the more delicate 

species of Vaucheria and Bryopsis, and like them are often unicellular, but it is, however, not 

uncommon to find at the base of some of the sterile branches a short cell, separated by a wall both from 

the branch above and the main filament below. A similar cell is always present at the base of the 

sporangia, and the same cell is found in some species of Vaucheria. Derbesia differs from Bryopsis in 

having zoospores provided with a circle of cilia, borne around the base of a terminal hyaline papilla as 

in Œdogonium. It differs from Vaucheria in not having oospores, so far as is known. The zoospores of 

Derbesia, according to Solier, germinate at once and are apparently of a non-sexual character, so that 

we may expect that hereafter either oospores or conjugating zoospores will be found. As we have said, 

the zoospores bear a striking resemblance to those of Œdogonium, and perhaps the relationship to the 

last-named genus is closer than has usually been supposed. In this connection it should be mentioned 

that, in the formation of the cells sometimes found at the base of the branches, the cell-wall ruptures in 

the same way as in Œdogonium, and if we do not have the same rings forming a cap at the end of the 

cells as in Œdogonium it may be because in Derbesia the formation of new cells is very limited. 

D. TENUISSIMA (De Not.), Crouan. (D. marina, Solier, Ann. Sci. Nat., 3 série, Vol. 

VII, p. 158, Pl. 9, Figs. 1-17.—Bryopsis tenuissima, De Not., Fl. Capr.—D. 

tenuissima, Crouan, Florule du Finistère, non D. marina, Crouan, Algues Marines 

du Finistère, No. 398.—Chlorodesmis vaucheriæformis, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part 

III, p. 30, Pl. 40 c.) Pl. IV, Fig. 4. 

Filaments tufted, bright green, one to two inches long, .04 mm in diameter; branches 

few, erect, constricted, and often with a cuboidal cell at the base; sporangia on short 

branches, ovoidal or pyriform, .09-.12 mm broad by .20-.30 mm long, resting on a 

cuboidal basal cell; spores large, few, about 15 in number. 

Forming tufts on algæ. 

Eel Pond Bridge, Wood’s Holl, Mass.; Key West; Europe. 

We have found this species but once on our coast, in May, 1876. With us it is apparently rare, but the 

species is not uncommon in some parts of Europe, especially on the shores of the Mediterranean. Our 

form is very well developed and the sporangia are rather longer than in the European specimens which 

we have seen.


SUBORDER PHÆOSPOREÆ. 

Reproduction by means of olive-brown zoospores which have two laterally attached 

cilia; sporangia of two kinds—unilocular, containing a large number of zoospores, 

and plurilocular, compound sporangia, each cell of which contains a single zoospore; 

conjugation of zoospores known in a few species; marine plants, of an olive-brown 

color, whose fronds vary greatly in structure, but which all agree in reproducing by 

zoospores. 

A large group, first correctly defined by Thuret. Previous writers had regarded the structure of the 

frond to the exclusion of the organs of reproduction, and the species here included were placed in 

different orders. In the Nereis they were placed partly in the Dictyotaceæ, Sporochnaceæ, 

Laminariaceæ, Chordariaceæ, and Ectocarpaceæ. The four last orders have been kept as families, but 

the true Dictyotaceæ are a distinct order. All the olive-brown sea-weeds of New England, except the 

rock-weeds, belong to the present suborder. In no order of plants do the species vary so widely in habit 

as in the present. A large number, as the Ectocarpi, are filamentous and resemble in habit the 

Cladophoræ. The Laminariæ have expanded flat fronds, and in Macrocystis and Egregia, the most 

highly organized of the order, there are stems, distinct leaves, and air-bladders, and in Egregia special 

fructiferous leaflets. Many of the species are of microscopic size, but Macrocystis grows to be several 

hundred feet long. 

SPHÆNOSIPHON, Reinsch. 

(From σφην [sphen], a wedge, and σιφων [siphon], a tube.) 

Fronds formed of single cells placed side by side so as to form a more or less coherent mass; cells 

pyriform-cuneate or oblong-elliptical; contents of cells transformed into a number of very small 

spherical bodies (zoospores?). 

In the Contributiones ad Algologiam et Fungologiam, Reinsch places the genus Sphænosiphon, of which 

he describes nine species, in the order Melanophyceæ. One of the species occurs in fresh water and the 

rest are marine. They all form minute spots on other algæ, and consist simply of cells placed side by 

side, the whole forming a thin membranous expansion. If the small bodies described and figured by 

Reinsch in the interior of the cells are really zoospores, and if the cells themselves are olive-brown, we 

must regard the genus Sphænosiphon as the lowest of the Phæosporeæ. The development of the 

zoospores has not been observed, and as Reinsch describes the color of some of the species as bluish 

green and rose-colored, we must consider the position of the genus to be in doubt. Species of 

Sphænosiphon are not unfrequent on our coast, but they have not yet been sufficiently studied. Those 

which we have seen are more like the Cyanophyceæ than the Phæosporeæ in color. The following 

descriptions, which may apply to some of our species, are taken from Reinsch, l. c. 

S. SMARAGDINUS, Reinsch, l. c., Pl. 35, Fig. 4. 

Cells pyriform or broadly cuneiform, rounded at the apex, prolonged at the base into a hyaline pedicel; 

cells .0168-333 mm long, .0084-112 mm broad at apex, .002 mm at base; color bluish green; base hyaline. 

On Plocamium coccineum, Labrador. 

On Polysiphonia, Anticosti. 

S. OLIVACEUS, Reinsch, l. c., Pl. 36, Fig. 2 a. 

Cells pyriform or cuneiform, broadly rounded at apex, contracted at base; color olive-green; cells .013- 

24 mm long, breadth .0096-168 mra . 

On Ceramium rubrum, Anticosti and Labrador. 

S. ROSEUS, Reinsch. 

Cells broadly ellipsoidal, placed loosely together, and surrounded by a thick hyaline mucus; rosecolored; 

.0041-50 mm long, .004-5 mm broad. 

On zoophytes, Labrador.

62 


As an account of the families into which the suborder is divided has already been given on pp. 15-17, it 

is unnecessary to repeat them here, but the reader will find them briefly described in their order on 

subsequent pages, together with a synopsis of the genera found on our coast belonging to each family. 

FAMILY SCYTOSIPHONEÆ. 

Fronds unbranching, either membranous or tubular; plurilocular sporangia in short 

filaments, densely covering the whole surface of the fronds; unilocular sporangia not 

well known. 

Fronds expanded membranes ................................................Phyllitis. 

Fronds tubular.................................................................. Scytosiphon. 

PHYLLITIS, (Kütz.) Le Jolis. 

(From φυλλιτης [phyllites], a name given by Dioscorides to an unknown plant.) 

Fronds olive-brown, simple, membranaceous, composed of a cortical layer of minute 

colored cells and an internal layer of larger, oblong, colorless cells, which are 

sometimes prolonged downwards in the form of short filaments; plurilocular 

sporangia formed from the cortical cells, covering the surface of the fronds, 

consisting of a few (4-6) cells arranged in short filaments, which are closely packed 

together at right angles to the surface of the fronds; unilocular sporangia and 

paraphyses unknown; growth from the base. 

A genus consisting of two species, formerly placed in the genus Laminaria in consequence of their 

membranous habit, but differing essentially from the true Laminariæ in the structure and disposition 

of their sporangia. 

P. FASCIA, Kütz. (Laminaria fascia, Ag.) 

Fronds gregarious from a disk-like base, three to six inches long, a quarter to half an 

inch wide, linear-elongate, contracted at the base into a short stipe. 

Var. CÆSPITOSA. (Phyllitis cæspitosa, Le Jolis, Études Phycol., p. 10, Pl. 4.— 

Laminaria cæspitosa, Ag.—Laminaria fascia, Harv., in Phyc. Brit., Pl. 45.— 

Laminaria debilis, Crouan, Alg. Finist., No. 81.) Pl. IV, Fig. 3. 

Fronds stipitate, cuneiform, often falcate and undulate. 

Very common on stones between tide-marks; widely distributed over all parts of the 

world. 

About the limits of the present species there is a diversity of opinion. Le Jolis regards the L. fascia and 

L. cæspitosa of Agardh as distinct species, but by Harvey they were considered as merely different 

forms of the same species. Harvey’s opinion seems to us to be correct, for it is impossible to draw the 

line between the two forms as found on our coast.


SCYTOSIPHON, (Ag.) Thuret. 

(From σκυτος [skytos], a whip, and σιφων [siphon], a tube.) 

Fronds simple, cylindrical, usually constricted at intervals, hollow, cortex of small 

colored cells, inner layer of vertically elongated, colorless cells; sporangia as in 

Phyllitis; paraphyses single-celled, oblong-obovate, interspersed among the 

sporangia. 

The present genus is founded on the Chorda lomentaria of older writers. The genus Scytosiphon, as 

proposed by Agardh, included both C. lomentaria and C. filum. The latter species, which is still kept in 

the genus Chorda by most writers, has the surface of the frond covered with club-shaped paraphyses, 

between which are situated the oval unilocular sporangia. In S. lomentarius the bodies called 

paraphyses are only occasionally found, and their real nature is a little uncertain. Both Bornet and 

Areschoug consider them to be paraphyses, and the latter has figured them in Observationes 

Phycologicæ, Part III, Pl. 2, Fig. 1. As at present understood, Scytosiphon differs from Phyllitis only in 

the fact that the frond is tubular instead of membranous, and in the presence of paraphyses, which 

have not yet been found in Phyllitis. 

S. LOMENTARIUS, Ag. (Chorda lomentaria, Lyngb.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 285.—Chorda 

filum var. lomentaria, Kütz., Spec. Alg.) 

Fronds gregarious, three to eighteen inches long, attached by a disk-like base, 

shortly stipitate, expanding into a hollow tube, from a quarter of an inch to an inch 

in diameter, at first cylindrical, afterwards constricted at intervals. 

Very common on stones between tide-marks; found nearly all over the world. 

A species easily recognized, except when quite young, by its tubular and constricted frond, but chiefly 

interesting in consequence of the smaller species of algæ which grow upon it. At Eastport a very large 

form is found, nearly an inch in diameter, and much twisted. 

FAMILY PUNCTARIEÆ. 

Fronds unbranching, forming expanded membranes or cylinders; fructification in 

spots (sori) on the surface of the fronds; plurilocular sporangia ellipsoidal, composed 

of few cells; unilocular sporangia spheroidal. 

PUNCTARIA, Grev. 

(From punctum, a point, referring to the dots formed by the sporangia and hairs.) 

Fronds olive-brown, simple, membranaceous, attached by a discoidal base, composed 

of several (2-6) layers of cuboidal cells of about the same dimensions in all parts of 

the fronds; unilocular sporangia immersed in the frond, collected in spots, sphericalcuboid, 

formed from the superficial cells; plurilocular sporangia collected in spots, 

immersed except

64 


at the apex, formed from the superficial cells; fronds covered with clusters of hairs; 

paraphyses wanting. 

A small genus, containing probably not more than half a dozen good species, which are widely diffused. 

In the Nereis Am. Bor. the genus is placed by Harvey in the Dictyotaceæ. That order is now restricted to 

a group, not represented, as far as is known, on the coast of New England, in which there are quiescent 

spores, tetraspores, and antheridia, but no zoospores, and Punctaria is evidently related to the 

Phæosporeæ, judging by its sporangia. Litosiphon pusillus, a small parasite on various algæ, is closely 

related to Punctaria, but differs in having a filamentous frond and more simple sporangia. It probably 

occurs on our coast, bulb has not yet been observed. 

P. LATIFOLIA, Grev.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 8; Études Phycol., p. 13, Pl. 5. 

Fronds pale olive-green, gregarious, shortly stipitate, lanceolate or obovate, four to 

twelve inches long, one to five inches broad, substance tender. 

Var. ZOSTERÆ, Le Jol. (P. tenuissima, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 248.) 

Fronds thin, pale, lanceolate at both extremities, narrow, margin undulated. 

On different algæ at and below low-water mark. Spring and summer. Europe. 

P. PLANTAGINEA, (Roth) Grev.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 128. Pl. IV., Fig. 5. 

Fronds deep brown, gregarious, broadly lanceolate, attenuated at base, one to three 

inches broad, three inches to a foot long, substance somewhat coriaceous. 

Orient, L. I.; Point Judith, R. I., Olney; Wood’s Holl, Gloucester, Mass.; Europe. 

Summer. 

It is not altogether easy to distinguish our two species in some cases, although as a rule they are 

sufficiently distinct. P. latifolia is much the more delicate of the two, and has a greenish tinge. When in 

fruit it is punctate, the dots being the sori. Both forms of sporangia are often found simultaneously on 

the same frond. In P. plantaginea the frond is decidedly brown and rather coriaceous, and the punctate 

spots are caused by the dense clusters of hairs which are often found to correspond on both sides of the 

frond. Both species are common in spring and summer, and although often washed ashore in 

considerable quantities on exposed beaches, they prefer quiet bays. 

FAMILY DESMARESTIEÆ. 

Fronds branching, cylindrical or compressed, with an axis of filaments composed of 

elongated cells and a cortex composed of spheroidal cells; unilocular sporangia 

formed by the direct transformation of the cortical cells; plurilocular sporangia 

unknown. 

DESMARESTIA, Lamx. 

(In honor of A. G. Desmarest, a French naturalist.) 

Fronds olive-brown, solid, cylindrical or compressed, much branched, attached by a 

disk, cortical layer composed of small polygonal cells,


internal portion consisting of an axial filament formed of a single row of rather large 

cylindrical cells, surrounded by a mass of oblong cells Sometimes mixed with smaller 

winding cells; in the spring fronds covered with branching hairs, which drop off later 

in the season; unilocular sporangia formed directly from the cortical cells, which do 

not undergo any change in shape or size; growth trichothallic. 

A small genus, consisting of about fifteen described species, a considerable portion of which bear a close 

resemblance to D. aculeata. They are inhabitants of the colder seas in both the northern and southern 

hemispheres. Our two species are very widely diffused, but D. ligulata, a common species of California 

as well as of Europe, is wanting on our coast. The genus is easily distinguished from its allies by the 

axial filament and the formation of the zoospores in the unchanged superficial cells. 

D. ACULEATA, Lamx., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 49; Ner. Am. Bor., Vol. I, Pl. 4 b. 

Fronds dark olive-brown, one to six feet long, terete below, compressed above, naked 

at the base; branches alternate, numerous, long and virgate, lower branches longer 

than upper, several times pinnate, clothed in spring with hairs, which fall off and 

leave alternate, distichous, spine-like processes. 

Common on exposed shores below low-water mark. Throughout the year. Europe. 

A coarse and homely species as usually found; often washed ashore in large masses. Not likely to be 

confounded with any other of our species. In spring it presents a feathery appearance, owing to the 

tufts of hairs with which the frond is beset. It is one of the species used as a fertilizer on the northern 

coast of New England. 

D. VIRIDIS, Lam. (Dichloria viridis, Grev.—Desmarestia viridis, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 312.) 

Fronds light olive, one to three feet long, cylindrical or but slightly compressed; 

branches all opposite, distichous, several times pinnate, ultimate branches capillary. 

Common on stones at and below low-water mark. Europe. 

A smaller and much more delicate species than the last, for which it can never be mistaken, rather 

resembling in some of its conditions a Dictyosiphon. The name is derived from the fact that on decaying 

or on being placed in fresh water it turns quickly to verdigris-green. Harvey mentions that air-cavities 

are to be seen in cross-sections of the filaments. The air-cavities are, however, merely the sections of 

the larger cells which are surrounded by dense masses of smaller cells, whereas in D. aculeata a crosssection 

shows the axial filament surrounded by a mass of cells of nearly equal diameter. 

FAMILY DICTYOSIPHONEÆ. 

Fronds branching, filiform, axis composed of elongated cuboidal cells, the cortex of 

smaller roundish cells; unilocular sporangia spherical, scattered or aggregated, 

formed from the subcortical cells; plurilocular sporangia unknown. 

S. Miss. 59——5

66 


DICTYOSIPHON, Grev. 

(From δικτυον [diktyon], a net, and σιφων [siphon], a tube.) 

Fronds olive-brown, filiform, branching, solid above, becoming hollow below, cortex 

composed of small, irregularly polygonal cells, interoir of larger, colorless, 

longitudinally elongated cells; branches corticated throughout; growth from an 

apical cell (scheitel-zelle); unilocular sporangia spherical, scattered, immersed in the 

cortex; paraphyses and plurilocular sporangia unknown. 

The genus was founded on D. fœniculaceus, a species placed by C. A. Agardh and Lyngbye in 

Scytosiphon. Under D. fœniculaceus were included a number of forms which have since been separated 

by Areschoug and placed in two different genera, Phlæospora and Dictyosiphon. In the former the 

unilocular sporangia are formed directly from the cortical cells and cover the surface in dense patches, 

at maturity projecting above the surface of the frond. In the latter genus the sporangia are scattered 

and immersed. In Dictyosiphon, moreover, the growth is from an apical cell, but in Phlæospora it is 

trichothallic, and in the former genus the superficial cells are polygonal and irregularly placed, while in 

the latter they are quadrate and arranged in regular series. The genus is divided by Areschoug into two 

subgenera, Dictyosiphon proper and Coilonema, the latter of which is referred by Gobi to Cladosiphon, 

since the cortical layer consists of very short filaments rather than a continuous cellular membrane. 

Our two species belong to Dictyosiphon proper, but species of Coilonema and Phlæospora are to be 

expected in the region of Eastport. By Harvey the genus was placed in the Dictyotacæ, from which order 

it was necessarily removed when the true nature of the sporangia was discovered. 

D. FŒNICULACEUS, Grev. (Scytosiphon fœniculaceus, Ag.—D. fœnieulaceus, Phyc. 

Brit., Pl. 326; Areschoug, Phyc. Mar., Pl. 7.) 

Fronds yellowish brown, six inches to two feet long, much branched; branches 

alternate or occasionally opposite; superficial cells angularly quadrate. 

Common on stones and algæ at low-water mark. Spring and summer. Europe. 

A variable species as found on our coast, but one which cannot well be subdivided at present. Early in 

the season the fronds are light colored and delicate in substance, but later they become more rigid. 

Perhaps some of the forms which we have here included may properly be placed under var. flaccidus of 

Areschoug. Such, at least, .appears to be the case with some of the specimens collected in May at 

Wood’s Holl. 

D. HIPPUROIDES, (Lyngb.) Aresch.? (Scytosiphon hippuroides, Lyngb., Hydr., Pl. 14 

b.—D. fœniculaceus α, Aresch., Phyc. Mar., Pl. 6 a and b.—Chordaria flagelliformis 

var. β and γ, Agardh, Sp. Alg., Vol. I, pp. 66 and 67.) 

Fronds dark brown, four inches to two feet long; main branches rather densely beset 

with flagellate, scattered, subequal secondary branches; superficial cells in the lower 

part arranged in horizontal series, above irregular.



On stones at low tide. 

Eastport, Maine; Cape Ann, Mass. 

We have referred to the present species a rather large form found abundantly in September, 1877, at 

Eastport, near Dog Island, where it grows with Chordaria flagelliformis, which it somewhat resembles 

in habit. It is much coarser than D. fœniculaceus, and of a darker color, and the branches are long and 

flagellate, and furnished with comparatively few secondary branches. The Cape Ann specimens are 

smaller and approach nearer D. fœniculaceus. The Eastport form can hardly be regarded as an extreme 

state of D. fœniculaceus, but whether it is really the D. hippuroides of Areschoug admits of some doubt, 

as Areschoug describes his species as being only six or seven inches long. According to Areschoug, the 

conjugation of zoospores has been observed in this species. 

FAMILY ECTOCARPEÆ. 

Fronds filamentous, monosiphonous or sometimes partly polysiphonous, cortex 

rudimentary or wanting; sporangia either in the continuity of the filaments or 

external, sessile or stalked; unilocular sporangia globose or cuboidal; plurilocular 

sporangia muriform (formed of numerous small rectangular cells densely aggregated 

in ovoidal or lanceolate masses); growth trichothallic. 

Fronds polysiphonous above, monosiphonous below, densely beset above 

with very short horizontal branches............................... Myriotrichia. 

Fronds generally monosiphonous throughout, branches free, opposite or 

alternate..............................................................................Ectocarpus. 

MYRIOTRICHIA, Harv. 

(From µυριος [myrios], a thousand, and θριξ [thrix], a hair.) 

Fronds olive-brown, filamentous, at first consisting of a single row of cells, which by 

transverse and longitudinal division afterwards form a solid axis; branches short, 

closely approximated, radiating in all directions, formed by outgrowths from the 

superficial cells of the axis; unilocular sporangia spherical, borne on the axis 

between the branches; plurilocular sporangia unknown; main axis and branches 

ending in hyaline hairs. 

A genus comprising three species which are hardly distinct. They form small tufts or fringes on 

different Phæosporeæ, especially on Scytosiphon, and are recognized by the numerous short branches 

which in some cases almost cover the main axis and cause it to resemble a Stigonema. The development 

of the frond is given in detail by Nægeli in Die neuern Algensysteme. 

M. CLAVÆFORMIS, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 101. (M. Harveyana, Næg. partim.) 

Fronds half an inch to an inch in length, club-shaped in outline, axis clothed 

throughout with branches, upper branches longer than lower and bearing secondary 

branches.

68 


Var. FILIFORMIS. (M. filiformis, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 156.—M. Harveyana, Næg. 

partim.) 

Fronds filiform in outline, axis furnished only at intervals with branches. 

On various algæ, especially Scytosiphon lomentarius. 

Gloucester, Mass., Mrs. Bray. 

Var. filiformis, Penobscot Bay, Maine, Hooper; Newport, R.I.; Europe. 

A species forming small tufts on different Phæosporeæ, probably abundant on our coast, but as yet only 

recorded in a few localities. Nægeli has shown, l. c., that the two species of Harvey are merely forms of 

a single species, the variety filiformis being less fully developed than M. clavæformis, which was first 

described. 

ECTOCARPUS, Lyngb. 

(From εκτος [ektos], external, and καρπος [karpos], fruit.) 

Fronds filamentous, monosiphonous or occasionally partly polysiphonous by radial 

division of some of the cells; plurilocular sporangia ovate, cylindrical or siliculose, 

consisting of numerous small cells arranged in regular longitudinal and transverse 

series; unilocular sporangia cylindrical or oval, either stalked or formed by the direct 

transformation of the cells of the branches. 

The genus is here accepted in an extended sense, and includes a number of genera of modern writers 

which we have preferred to consider subgenera. Perhaps Pylaiella should be kept distinct, as in this 

subgenus both the unilocular and multilocular sporangia are formed by the direct transformation of 

some of the cells in the continuity of the filaments rather than in special branches. But in Capsicarpella 

we have the multilocular sporangia formed in the continuity of the branches as in Pylaiella, while the 

unilocular sporangia are .partly emergent and seem to be intermediate between those of Pylaiella and 

Ectocarpus proper. Streblonema, if separated from Ectocarpus by its creeping habit, resembles it 

perfectly in its fruit, and, as the different species of Streblonema vary considerably as to their 

procumbent habit, it seems, on the whole, better not to retain the genus. The described species of 

Ectocarpus proper are very numerous, but unfortunately they are not well characterized. The greater 

part of the species may be grouped around E. confervoides and E. fasciculatus as types, but exactly how 

far differences in ramification and dimensions of the sporangia are to be considered specific rather than 

mere variations is a matter about which botanists do not agree. One thing is certain, that specific 

analysis has been carried too far in this group, and it is especially true with regard to the species of 

Kützing. In describing a species of Ectocarpus it is important to have both the unilocular and 

plurilocular conditions. In most of the species, however, only one form is known. The unilocular 

sporangia are often difficult to determine, because the Ectocarpi, especially those growing on dirty 

wharves, are infested by parasites, Chytridium, &c., which produce globular swellings of the cells, 

which might then, especially in dried specimens, be mistaken for unilocular sporangia. 

Besides the two forms of sporangia, Thuret and Bornet have recorded the existence of bodies to which 

they have given the name of antheridia. It has been suggested that the antheridia were cells distorted 

by parasites. We have never seen antheridia in American specimens, and are not in a position to 

express any opinion. The fact that a conjugation of the zoospores has been observed by Goebel in E. 

pusillus


would, however, incline one to consider that the antheridia in this genus were not proper male bodies. 

Some of the species of Ectocarpus described by Harvey in the Nereis were founded on sterile specimens, 

but, at the present day, algologists agree in thinking that the presence of sporangia is necessary for the 

determination of species of Ectocarpus, and we have, accordingly, omitted the Harveyan species 

founded on sterile plants as being inadequate. 

SUBGENUS STREBLONEMA, Derb. & Sol. (Entonema, Reinsch). 

Primary branches procumbent, creeping in or over the substance of other algæ; 

secondary and fructifying ramuli erect. 

E. CHORDARIÆ, n. sp. 

Filaments much branched, irregularly nodose, about .02 mm in diameter, sunk in the 

tissue of the host-plant; hairs and fertile branches erect, the former projecting above 

the surface; unilocular sporangia on short stalks, solitary or clustered, oval, about 

.07 mm broad by .14 mm long; plurilocular sporangia unknown. 

Parasitic in the fronds of Chordaria divaricata, Leathesia tuberiformis, and other 

Phæosporeæ. 

Wood’s Holl, Gloucester, Mass.; Newport, R. I. 

A common- but insignificant species which grows in the cortical portion of different Phæosporeæ, 

especially Chordaria divaricata, and usually in company with Bulbocoleon. It forms dark-colored spots 

on the surface of the plant in which it is growing, and, on a hasty microscopic examination, would pass 

unnoticed, so great is the resemblance of the sporangia to those of Chordaria. Our plant resembles S. 

sphæricum, Thuret, but differs from the Mediterranean forms of that species in having oval, not 

spherical, sporangia, which are often clustered. The filaments, too, are composed of very irregularshaped 

cells, and are never moniliform as in well-developed specimens of S. sphæricum. It may, 

however, be the ease that what we have considered specific marks are only local variations. It may also 

be asked whether the present species is not the form of S. fasciculatum, Thuret, which bears unilocular 

sporangia. At present only the plurilocular form of sporangium is known in that species as it occurs in 

Europe. 

E. REPTANS, Crouan, Florule du Finistère, p. 161; Kjellman, Bidrag till Känn. Skand. 

Ect. Tilop., p. 52, Pl. 2, Fig. 8, 

Filaments forming circular spots on the host-plant, primary branches very densely 

branching, so that they almost form a membrane, furnished with numerous erect 

branches, which are .5-7 mm high and gradually taper to a hyaline hair; cells at base 

about .0l mm broad; plurilocular sporangia arising from the primary filaments, sessile 

or on short stalks, ovate-acute, .012-20 mm broad by .038-76 mm long. 

On Phyllitis and Dictyosiphon. Summer. 

Newport, R. I.; Europe. 

A larger species than the preceding and growing more superficially, so that the filaments may be said 

to creep over the surface rather than in the substance of the host-plant. Owing to the dense branching 

of the prostrate filaments and the abundance

70 


of the erect branches, this species forms a connecting link between Ectocarpus and Myrionema. 

SUBGENUS EUECTOCARPUS. 

Filaments monosiphonous, erect, occasionally corticated by the growth of descending 

filaments which are given off from some of the cells; both unilocular and plurilocular 

sporangia formed by the transformation of special branches. 

E. TOMENTOSUS, (Huds.) Lyngb., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 182. (Spongonema tomentosum, 

Kütz., Spec. Alg., p. 461; Tab. Phyc., Vol. V, Pl. 83 a.) 

Filaments erect, two to four inches long, densely interwoven into rope-like, spongy 

masses, irregularly much branched; primary branches scarcely distinct; cells .008- 

12 mm broad by .012-70 mm long; plurilocular sporangia linear-oblong, straight or 

incurved, .010-15 mm broad by .025-75 mm long, sessile or on short pedicels, which are 

given off at right angles to the branches; unilocular sporangia “subovate on short 

pedicels” (Areschoug). 

On Fucus and other plants. 

Boston Bay, Harvey; Magnolia, Mass.; Europe. 

This species, which is easily recognizable by its spongy, rope-like habit, and by the microscopic 

characters above enumerated, seems to be rather scarce on our coast. It is not rare, however, on the 

shores of Europe. The species is to be sought in summer, and it grows attached to the larger algæ. Only 

the plurilocular sporangia are known on our coast. 

E. GRANULOSUS, (Eng. Bot.) Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 200. 

Filaments tufted, rather rigid, two to four inches long, main branches opposite or 

whorled, corticating filaments often numerous; cells .07-10 mm in diameter; secondary 

branches short, opposite, given off at very wide angles, often revolute at the tip; 

ultimate branches secund, short, acute; plurilocular sporangia broadly ovate, 

obliquely truncate on the inner side, .04-6 mm broad by .06-8 mm long, sessile on the 

ultimate and penultimate branches; unilocular sporangia? 

Var. TENUIS. (Ectocarpus Durkeei, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Vol. I, p. 142, Pl. 12 f.) 

Filaments more slender than in the type; cells .05-8 mm broad; branches usually 

alternate; plurilocular sporangia ovate or ellipsoidal, but slightly truncate at the 

base. 

Boston, Harvey; Newport, R. I. 

Var. tenuis. Portsmouth, N. H.; Nantucket, Mass., Harvey; Wood’s Holl, Mass. 

A species not rare in Europe and apparently common on the coast of California, but not often found 

with us. The species occurs in summer, and forms small tufts on


other algæ. It is distinguished from our other species by the short, broad, and sessile sporangia. In the 

type the branching is opposite and compact, and the corticating filaments are sometimes so numerous, 

especially in the Newport specimens, as to lead one to admit the validity of Kützing’s genus 

Corticularia. But in other cases the corticating filaments are few in number. 

E. CONFERVOIDES, (Roth) Le Jolis. (Ectocarpus siliculosus, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 162; Ner. 

Am. Bor., Vol. I, p. 139.) 

Filaments erect, two to twenty inches long, loosely entangled at the base, becoming 

free and feathery above; branches alternate or secund, gradually tapering; cells of 

larger branches .04-5 mm in diameter; plurilocular sporangia ovate-acute or 

acuminate, sessile or stalked, sometimes rostrate average size of sporangia .025- 

40 mm broad by .15-40 mm long; unilocular sporangia oval or ellipsoidal, .023-30 mm 


α, var. SILICULOSUS, Kjellman. (Ectocarpus viridis, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Vol I, p. 

140, Pl. 12 b and c.) 

Plurilocular sporangia subulate or linear-subulate, sessile or subsessile, frequently 

rostrate. 

β, var. HIEMALIS, Kjellman. (Ectocarpus hiemalis, Crouan.) 

Plurilocular sporangia elongated, conical or subacuminate, .08-15 mm long by .02-3 mm 

broad, generally rostrate. 

Very common on algæ and wood work along the whole coast. 

Var. α, most common south of Cape Cod. 

Var. β, Wood’s Holl, Mass.? 

The largest, moat variable, and most common summer species of our coast, and found in nearly all 

parts of the world. It has been subdivided by Kützing into a large number of species, which are scarcely 

to be recognized from his descriptions and plates. Formerly some of the different forms of E. littoralis 

were referred to the present species, but the true E. littoralis is now recognized as belonging to the 

subgenus Pylaiella. Those interested in tracing the synonymy of E. confervoides should consult 

Kjellman’s Bidrag till Kännedomen om Skandinaviens Ectocarpeer och Tilopterider, Stockholm, 1872. 

As seen on our own coast, what we have called the typical E. confervoides forms tufts of indefinite 

extent on wharves, and especially on the larger algæ, varying in length from a few inches to a foot and 

a half long. It frequently fringes the fronds of Chorda filum with its soft, silky tufts. In the type the 

plurilocular sporangia, which are much more common than the unilocular, are ovate-acuminate, and 

only occasionally rostrate. In the variety siliculosus the plurilocular sporangia are long and 

comparatively very narrow. The variety hiemalis is found in the winter and spring, and has 

plurilocular sporangia, which are almost always rostrate and somewhat cylindrical in form, so that 

they may be said to resemble those of the subgenus Pylaiella. The color of the present species when 

growing is a light brown approaching yellowish, which in drying often turns to a yellowish-green, 

especially in the variety siliculosus, of which herbarium specimens might be mistaken for Cladophoræ. 

The winter forms are deeper brown than those found in summer. E. amphibius, mentioned in the 

supplement to the Nereis as occurring near New York in brackish water, is a form of the present 

species.

72 


E. fasciculatus, Harv. 

Filaments one to eight inches long, erect, tufted, entangled below but free and 

feathery above; cells of main branches .05 mm in diameter, about as long as broad; 

secondary branches alternate, short, given off at an obtuse angle; ultimate branches 

very numerous, secund, ending in a hair; plurilocular sporangia ovate-acuminate or 

subulate, sessile or on short stalks, borne principally on the upper side of the 

penultimate branches, very variable in size, but averaging from .018-25 mrm broad by 

.070-150 mm long; unilocular sporangia sessile, oval, .04-6 mm by .03-45 mm . 

Very common on the larger algæ along the whole coast; Europe. 

When found in its typical form the present species is easily recognized, but it varies considerably, so 

that the extreme forms are not easily determined. It is very common on fronds of Laminaria and other 

large Phæosporeæ, on which it forms a dense fringe one or two inches high. The larger forms are much 

looser and feathery and the tips of the branches are fasciculate when seen with the naked eye. When 

long and slender it becomes the var. draparnaldioides of Crouan. The most puzzling forms are those in 

which the filaments are short and thick and the rather stout plurilocular sporangia are arranged 

without order on the branches. In this species the unilocular and plurilocular sporangia are more 

frequently found growing together on the same individual than in any of the other species found on our 

coast. 

E. LUTOSUS, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Vol. I, p. 140, Pl. 12 a. 

Filaments tufted, two to four inches long, densely interwoven in spongy masses; 

lower branches opposite, .03-4 mm broad; upper branches irregular, ending in long 

hairs; plurilocular sporangia .04-5 mm broad by .15-20 mm long, cylindrical in outline, 

ending in very long hairs, which occasionally fork; unilocular sporangia? 

Greenport, L. I., Harvey; Wood’s Holl, Mass. 

The above description is taken from a species common on Fucus at Wood’s Holl, in May, 1876, which 

corresponds very well to the E. lutosus of the Nereis Am. Bor., a species which Harvey states is not 

clearly defined. It differs from the description given by Harvey in the fact that the sporangia are not 

very long, and it is not impossible that our plant may not be the same as that described by Harvey. The 

present species, as we understand it, is short and tufted and the filaments are densely interwoven into 

rope-like masses as in E. tomentosus,. The species seem to connect Pylaiella with Euectocarpus, 

resembling on the one hand E. siliculosus var. hiemalis, and on the other E. firmus. From the former it 

differs in the branching and the shape of the plurilocular sporangia, which are strictly cylindrical, 

never being in the least acuminate. From the latter it differs in being more slender and in having the 

sporangia always at. the base of very long hairs, which sometimes branch, and not in the continuity of 

the branches themselves. The ramification is very like that of E. firmus. In drying the species becomes 

decidedly yellow. 

E. MITCHELLÆ, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Vol. I, p. 142, Pl. 12 g. 

“Tufts feathery; filaments very slender, decompoundly much branched; the branches 

and their lesser divisions alternate; the ultimate ramuli approximated; angles wide, 

and branches and ramuli patent; ramuli


attenuate; articulations of the branches twice or thrice as long as broad, of the 

ramuli once and a half as long; propagula elliptic-oblong or linear, quite sessile and 

very obtuse, transversely striate, several to gether.” (Harvey, l. c.) 

Nantucket, Miss Mitchell. 

Only known from the description and plate in the Nereis. 

SUBGENUS PYLAIELLA, Bory. 

Both forms of sporangia formed from the cells in the continuity of the branches, and 

not by a transformation of special branches. 

In the present subgenus one might, at first sight, be inclined to include E. siliculosus var. hiemalis and 

E. lutosus, but in those species the sporangia are rather situated at the end of branches, which are 

prolonged beyond the sporangia in the form of hairs, than in t he continuity of the branches themselves. 

E. LITTORALIS, Lyngb. (Ectocarpus firmus, Ag.—Pilayella littoralis, Kjellman.) 

Filaments tufted or irregularly expanded at the base, two to ten inches long; 

branches numerous, usually opposite, given off at wide angles, erect; cells .02-4 mm 

broad; plurilocular sporangia irregularly cylindrical, very variable in size; unilocular 

sporangia formed of from two to thirty contiguous cells, .02-3 mm broad; fertile 

branches moniliform. 

Var. ROBUSTUS. (Ectocarpus Farlowii, Thuret, in Farlow’s List of the Marine Algæ of 

the United States, 1876.) 

Filaments three or four inches long, densely branching; branches robust, opposite or 

irregular; cells .03-5 mm in breadth; fertile branches short and rigid, often 

transformed through nearly their whole length into unilocular sporangia, which are 

stout and cylindrical, only slightly moniliform at maturity; cells .04 mm broad and .03- 

4 mm in length. 

Very common along the whole coast. 

Var. robustus in exposed places from Nahant northward. 

A very common species on our coast, which, although offering numerous forms, cannot, as it seems to 

us, be well specifically divided. When growing on wharves, where it is very common, or on other wood 

work, it forms expansions of indefinite extent from which rise tufts several inches long. The basal or 

prostrate portions branch very irregularly, and the cells are infested with Chytridia and other 

parasites. If species of Ectocarpus could be formed from sterile specimens, the basal portions of E. 

littoralis would offer a rich field to the species-maker. What is called var. robustus has not yet been 

found south of Cape Cod, but is common on the northern coast on Fuci and other algæ exposed to the 

action of the waves. The original E. Farlowii was founded on specimens collected by Mr. Higbee, at 

Salem, in November, 1874, and pronounced by the late M. Thuret, in a letter dated April 26, 1875, to be 

distinct from E. littoralis. In the Contributiones ad Algologiam et Fungologiam Pl. 20, Reinsch figures, 

under the name of Ectocarpus anticostiensis, a form which, as far as can be

74 


judged from the figure, is the same as E. Farlowii. Although in the present instance we have considered 

E. Farlowii to be a variety of E. littoralis, it must be admitted that it differs considerably from the form 

of E. littoralis common on the coast of France and England. Our reason for not considering it distinct is 

that we have large sets of specimens in which we have been unable to say with certainty whether they 

should be referred to E. littoralis or E. Farlowii, and with so many connecting links it seems best to 

regard E. Farlowii as an extreme form found in northern localities. Should the variety be eventually 

considered distinct the name of E. anticostiensis should be adopted, as no description of E. Farlowii has 

been published, and the species would be characterized by the robustness of the filaments and by the 

unilocular sporangia, which are broader than long, and borne in short, stout, patent branches. It is of 

frequent occurrence that some of the unilocular sporangia are binate. The plurilocular sporangia are 

common in spring and early summer, and the unilocular in the autumn. 

E. BRACHIATUS, Harv. 

“Finely-tufted, feathery, much branched; the branches free, opposite or quarternate; 

ramuli opposite, very patent; propagula forming oblong or elliptical swellings in the 

smaller branches, or at the point where two opposite ramuli issue.” (Harv., Ner. Am. 

Bor., Vol. I, p. 138.) 

South Boston, Lynn, Mass., Harvey. 

We have never found this species, which is only known on our coast from Harvey’s description. Le Jolis 

considers that the E. brachiatus of the Phyc. Brit., Pl. 4, is not the true Conferva brachiata, Engl. Bot., 

and he gives to the former the name of E. Griffithsianus. Never having seen American specimens, we 

cannot tell whether the American form mentioned by Harvey belongs to the E. Griffithsianus or not. 

SUBGENUS CAPSICARPELLA, Kjellman. 

Filaments erect, monosiphonous or in part polysiphonous; unilocular sporangia 

partly immersed in the frond; plurilocular sporangia formed by direct 

transformation of the cells of the branches. 

E. SPHÆROPHORUS, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 126. (Capsicarpella sphærophora, 

Kjellman, Bidrag, p. 20, Pl. 1, Fig. 2.) 

Filaments one to three inches long, tufted, densely branching; main branches 

opposite or whorled, often polysiphonous; secondary branches opposite or alternate, 

monosiphonous; unilocular sporangia spherical, about .04 mm in diameter, solitary, 

often binate, sometimes whorled, the cell from which the sporangia are formed 

dividing into at least three cells; plurilocular sporangia? 

On Ptilota elegans. May. 

Nahant, Mr. Collins; Europe. 

A rare species which has only been collected by Mr. Collins, The main filaments are at intervals 

polysiphonous, and remind one of a Sphacelaria. In Mr. Collins’s specimens the sporangia were 

numerous and in some cases whorled, as is occasionally seen in European specimens. The species is to 

be sought in spring and early summer, and may be commoner than is now supposed, having escaped 

the observation of collectors on account of its small size.


INSUFFICIENTLY DESCRIBED SPECIES. 

E. LANDSBURGII, Harvey, Ner. Am. Bor., Vol. I, Pl. 12 d. 

Halifax, N. S. 

E. HOOPERI, Harvey, l. c., Pl. 12 e. 

Greenport, L. I. (?) 

E. DIETZIÆ, Harvey, l. c., p. 144. 

Greenport. 

FAMILY SPHACELARIEÆ, 

Fronds branching, polysiphonous, terminating in a large apical cell, often with a 

cortex formed of densely interwoven rhizoidal filaments; fructification same as in 

Ectocarpeæ. 

Corticating cells wanting or confined to the base of the frond. 

Main branches corticated throughout. 

Branches opposite, distichous..................................... Chætopteris. 

Branches whorled ......................................................Cladostephus. 

SPHACELARIA, Lyngb. 

Sphacelaria. 

(From σφακελος [sphakelos], gangrene, referring to the tips of the branches, which are black and 

shriveled when dried.) 

Fronds olive-brown, filamentous, branching; axis and branches terminated by a 

large apical cell, from which, by transverse, longitudinal, and oblique divisions, a 

solid frond is formed whose external surface is composed of rectangular cells 

arranged in regular transverse bands; hairs slightly developed or wanting; rhizoidal 

filaments few, rarely interwoven so as to form a false cortex; unilocular and 

plurilocular sporangia spherical or ellipsoidal, on short pedicels; non-sexual 

reproproduction [sic] by peculiarly modified branches called propagula. 

The old genus Sphacelaria was divided by Kützing into a number of genera, and his views have been 

adopted by many recent writers, especially in Germany. In Stypocaulon and Halopteris the branches 

arise from lateral divisions of the apical cell itself, while in Sphacelaria proper, Chætopteris and 

Cladostephus, the branches arise from cells below the apex. Whether this difference in the apical 

growth can be considered a generic mark is not altogether certain, and there hardly seems to be 

sufficient ground for separating Halopteris from Sphacelaria, and a number of writers, among whom 

may be named Harvey and Le Jolis, even include Stypocaulon. Cladostephus is markedly distinct; and 

Chætopteris, which differs from Sphacelaria principally in the cortication 

GIRAUDIA SPHACELARIOIDES, Derb. & Sol., a common Mediterranean alga, which occasionally occurs as 

far north as the Scandinavian coast, may perhaps be found on our shore. It resembles a small 

Sphacelaria, but its growth is trichothallic, not from an apical cell, and the small unilocular sporangia 

cover the frond in dense patches. The plurilocular sporangia resemble those of some Ectocarpi, and are 

found at the base of the plant according to Areschoug.

76 


of the main branches, is kept distinct by most writers. We have but a very imperfect representation of 

the Sphacelarioid group in this country. Stypocaulon and Halopteris are entirely wanting, and of 

Sphacelaria we have only S. cirrhosa and S. radicans on the northeastern coast, S. tribuloides in 

Florida, and what is supposed to be S. fusca in California. The species of Sphacelaria are variable, and 

the determination sometimes uncertain. The apical cells of our Sphacelariæ are frequently attacked by 

the unicellular parasite, Chytridium sphacelarum, Kny. 

S. CIRRHOSA, (Roth) Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 178. 

Fronds olive-brown, densely tufted half an inch to two inches high; main filaments 

erect, several times pinnate with opposite or irregularly spreading branches; 

rhizoidal filaments few or wanting; unilocular sporangia .06-7 mm long, globose; 

plurilocular sporangia .05 mm broad by .08 mm long, broadly ellipsoidal, secund on 

lateral branches, with unicellular pedicels; propagula rather stout, three (2-4) rayed, 

usually borne on distinct plants. 

Common on Fucus, on which it forms dense globose tufts. Europe. 

A variable species, sometimes with regularly opposite branches, at times with irregularly placed long 

branches. The propagula vary very much in size, and are generally found on plants which do not bear 

sporangia. With us they are much more common than the sporangia. An excellent account of the 

propagula is given by Janczewski in the Annales des Sciences, Series 5, Vol. XVII. In the Nereis Am. 

Bor. the word propagulum is used by Harvey to signify the contents of the apical cells, and this use of 

the word should not be confounded with its present application. The word propagulum as used in the 

Nereis is rather equivalent to the term sphacela of other writers. Sporangia are more common in the 

winter months, but are found occasionally in summer. 

S. RADICANS, (Dillw.) Harv. (S. olivacea, var., Ag.; Pringsheim, l. c.‚ Pls. 9 and 10.— 

S. radicans, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 189.) 

Fronds olive-brown, half an inch to an inch high, forming dense turfs; filaments 

erect or prostrate, branches few, somewhat appressed, rhizoidal filaments often 

numerous; unilocular sporangia globose, .04-5 mm in diameter, numerous on the 

branches, on very short unicellular pedicels; plurilocular sporangia unknown; 

propagula slender, elongated. 

On mud-covered rocks between tide-marks. 

Newport, R. I.; Wood’s Holl, Mass., and common from Nahant northwards; Europe. 

The present species is smaller than the last, and forms small, indefinitely expanded turfs, especially on 

the under side of mud-covered rocks, often in company with Ceramium Hooperi. Numerous rhizoidal 

filaments are sometimes found at the base, so that different plants are bound together, but the species 

is without a false cortex. The name originally proposed for the species by Dillwyn was S. radicans. 

Agardh adopts Dillwyn’s later name, S. olivacea, making of the form with numerous rhizoidal filaments 

a variety, radicans. Apart from their different habit and place of growth, it is difficult to assign exact 

marks by which to distinguish in all cases S. cirrhosa and S. radicans. In the latter the secondary 

branches are few and appressed, irregularly placed, never opposite, while in the former they are 

numerous, given off at


angles, and frequently opposite. In S. cirrhosa the sporangia are generally scattered on the secondary 

branches, while in S. radicans they are often clustered on the main branches. In both cases the pedicels 

are usually one-celled. In both species the propagula are so variable in outline that they cannot be 

described in few words, but those of S. cirrhosa are more robust than those of S. radicans. 

Sphacelaria dedalea, Reinsch, Contrib. ad Alg. et Fung., p. 22, Pl. 30, described from the coast of 

Labrador, does not correspond to any form known to us from New England. 

CHÆTOPTERIS, Kütz. 

(From χαιτη [chaite], a hair, and πτερις [pteris], a fern.) 

Fronds olive-brown, filamentous, branching; branches opposite, distichous, apical 

growth as in Sphacelaria; rhizoidal filaments very numerous, densely interwoven, so 

as to form a false cortex; plurilocular sporangia borne on the branches, shortly 

pedicillate, unilocular sporangia “ globose on the tips of short special filaments” 

(Areschoug). 

A genus founded on the old Sphacelaria plumosa of Lyngbye. It differs from Sphacelaria in the false 

cortication of the main branches by the interlacing of rhizoidal filaments, and from Cladostephus by the 

opposite, not whorled branches. The genus does not rest on a firm basis, for it occasionally happens in 

some of the species of Sphaceleria that the rhizoidal filaments form a rudimentary cortex. Chætopteris 

squamulosa, Kütz., is made by Geyler the type of a new genus, Phloiocaulon. 

C. PLUMOSA, (Lyngb.) Kütz. (Sphacelaria plumosa, Lyngb., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 87.— 

Chætopteris plumosa, Kütz., Phyc. Gen., p. 293; Tab. Phyc., Vol. 6, Pl. 6, Fig. 1; 

Areschoug, Obser. Phyc., Part III, Pl. 2, Figs. 4 and 5.) 

Fronds two to six inches long, tufted, rigid, attached by a small disk, main branches 

sparingly branched, secondary branches plumose; plurilocular sporangia numerous, 

secund on the upper side of short special branches, shortly stipitate, elliptical in 

outline; unilocular sporangia globose, terminal on short branches. (Areschoug, l. c.) 

Prince Edward’s Island, Mrs. Davis, and northward; Northern Europe. 

A beautiful species, common in Northern Europe and Greenland, but not yet found farther south than. 

Prince Edward’s Island on the American coast. It may, however, be expected at Eastport and our 

northern border. 

CLADOSTEPHUS, Ag. 

(From κλ δος [sic] [klados], a branch, and στεφος [stephos], a crown.) 

Fronds olive-brown, branching, secondary branches (leaves) whorled, apical growth 

as in Sphacelaria; main stems densely corticated by growth of rhizoidal filaments, 

secondary branches (leaves) naked, hairs borne in tufts just below the apex of 

branches; unilocular and plurilocular sporangia on special branches (leaves), 

stipitate.

78 


A genus comprising eight described species, several of which are undoubtedly merely forms of the 

common and widely diffused C. verticillatus, whose structure is minutely described by Pringsheim, l. c. 

The term leaves is applied by Pringsheim to the secondary branches. He considers the branching of the 

axis to be monopodial. The sporangia are produced in the winter months, the two kinds on separate 

plants or sometimes together. 

C. VERTICILLATUS, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 33; Pringsheim, l. c., Pls. 1-7. 

Fronds four to ten inches high, slender, subdichotomous, secondary branches 

distinctly whorled, falcate, acute at apex, attenuate at base, furnished externally 

with a few spine-like branchlets; hairs numerous; unilocular sporangia globose, 

plurilocular sporangia irregularly ellipsoidal, borne on short pedicels on small 

special branches, which grow front the axis between the insertions of the secondary 

branches. 

Var. SPONGIOSUS. (Cladostephus spongiosus, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 38.) 

Fronds more compact, whorls approximate, indistinct, secondary branches usually 

destitute of hairs and spine-like branchlets. 

On stones in pools and below low-water mark. 

Newport, R. I.; Orient, L. I.; Martha’s Vineyard; Cape Ann, Mass.; Europe. 

A plant at once recognized by its resemblance to a small Ceratophyllum. Rather common in several 

places south of Cape Cod, but seldom seen on the northern coast. It prefers somewhat exposed shores, 

and occurs at considerable depths. Although the close resemblance between C. verticillatus and C. 

spongiosus has long been noticed, the two species have generally been considered distinct. Geyler says 

that C. spongiosus is characterized by the absence of hairs and the external spines on the branches. 

Although this is in general true, one not unfrequently finds hairs and small spines on some of the 

branches, and C. spongiosus is evidently merely a variety of C. verticillatus. Nor is it the case, as some 

have supposed, that the verticillate form is confined to deeper water, while the spongiose form is found 

in tide-pools and near low-water mark. 

FAMILY MYRIONEMEÆ. 

Fronds minute, forming spots or thin expansions on other algæ, consisting of 

prostrate filaments united into a horizontal membrane, from which rise short 

vertical filaments, between which are borne the sporangia; unilocular and 

pluriocular [sic] sporangia as in Ectocarpeæ. 

MYRIONEMA, Grev. 

(From µυριος [myrios], numberless, and νυµα [nyma], a thread.) 

Fronds olive-brown, forming thin expansions on other algæ, composed of a horizontal 

layer of cells lying on the substratum, from which arise very numerous vertical 

filaments, closely packed together; unilocular and plurilocular sporangia between 

the vertical filaments, either sessile on the horizontal layer or on short pedicels; 

hairs arising from horizontal layer; growth peripheral.


A genus of minute algæ which form small brown spots on other plants. The species are ubiquitous, but 

the specific characters are not well defined, and a good share of the described species are merely 

different forms of the very common M. vulgare. The two different kinds of sporangia are sometimes 

found together, but are usually on different plants. The genus is most nearly related to Ralfsia, which 

may be said to be a Myrionema in which the horizontal layer has become much thickened, and the 

vertical filaments, with the interspersed sporangia, instead of covering the surface uniformly, have 

been confined to certain circumscribed portions. The two genera are closely connected by Ralfsia 

clavata, Crn., which was first described as a Myrionema by Carmichael. In Ralfsia the vertical 

filaments must be considered to be paraphyses, and perhaps those of Myrionema should also be so 

considered. 

M. VULGARE, Thur. (M. strangulans, Grev.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 280.—M. punctiforme, 

Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 41 b.—M. maculiforme, Kütz., Tab. Phyc., Vol. VII, Pl. 93, Fig. 

2.) 

Fronds .04-8 mm in thickness, vertical filaments (paraphyses) slightly club-shaped 

and moniliform, unilocular sporangia oval, .019-27 mm broad by .03-4 mm long, sessile 

or borne on short pedicels. 

Everywhere common on various algæ. 

In Le Jolis’s Liste des Algues Marines de Cherbourg, Thuret is quoted as authority for uniting several 

of the species of Myrionema of Harvey and Kützing. The alleged specific distinctions are plainly nothing 

but modifications of the same species, dependent on the place of growth. When found on small 

cylindrical fronds, as in some Enteromorphæ, the Myrionema surrounds the frond and constitutes the 

M. strangulans of Greville, and when growing on flat surfaces the form known as M. punctiforme is 

found. In this country the unilocular sporangia are very common, but we have never seen the 

plurilocular sporangia, while in the next species the plurilocular sporangia are more numerous, 

although both kinds are found. 

M. LECLANCHERII, (Chauv.) Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 41 a. Pl. 6, Fig. 5. 

Fronds .06-10 mm in thickness, vertical filaments (paraphyses) cylindrical, unilocular 

sporangia oval, plurilocular sporangia .008-10 mm broad by .023-30 mm long, ovate, 

oblong, sessile or on very short pedicels. 

On Rhodymenia palmata. 

Gay Head, Mass.; Europe. 

This species forms rather larger spots than the last on the common dulse. That it is really distinct from 

M. vulgare admits of doubt. There appears to be a difference in the paraphyses of the two, but such 

differences cannot be considered of much value. We have found both unilocular and plurilocular 

sporangia in the present species, but unfortunately have not preserved measurements of the latter. The 

plurilocular sporangia are sometimes very numerous and stand side by side without intervening 

paraphyses. 

FAMILY LEATHESIEÆ. 

Fronds lubricous or gelatinous, indefinitely expanded or irregularly globose, 

consisting of a basal portion, composed of irregularly branching filaments formed of 

large, colorless cells, and a cortical portion of closely packed, short, colored 

filaments; paraphyses often present;

80 


Fructification borne at the base of cortical filaments; plurilocular sporangia 

cylindrical, composed of few cells in a row; unilocular sporangia globose. 

Fronds forming small tufts on other algæ. 

Cortex with a series of exserted colored filaments ......Elachistea. 

Cortex destitute of exserted filaments .......................... Myriactis. 

Fronds irregularly globose, hollow at maturity ..................Leathesia. 

ELACHISTEA, Duby. 

(From ελαχιστα [elachista], very small.) 

Fronds olive-brown, tufted or pulvinate, basal portion solid, some-what 

parenchymatous, composed of densely packed branching filaments, which become 

free at the surface and branch corymbosely so as to form a layer of short filaments 

(paraphyses), at the base of which are borne the sporangia of both kinds and a series 

of long exserted filaments; hairs formed at the base of the paraphyses, exserted; 

unilocular sporangia rhombic-ovoid, plurilocular sporangia cylindrical, composed of 

a few cells in a linear series. 

A genus consisting of a few species, all of which form small tufts on other algæ, especially on Fucaceæ. 

They may be recognized by the double series of filaments borne on the surface of the solid and but 

slightly developed basal portion. The longer filaments and hairs float freely in the water, but the 

shorter paraphyses are packed rather closely together, forming as it were a definite cortical layer over 

the basal portion. The unilocular sporangia are common. The more or less solid basal portion of the 

fronds in some of the species gives off filaments which penetrate into the substance of the algæ on 

which they are growing, and by the growth and persistence of these filaments it may be that the species 

are propagated from year to year, as happens in the case of certain fungi. In other species no 

penetrating basal filaments have as yet been found. 

The limits of the species are pretty well defined except in the case of E. fucicola, E. lubrica, and E. 

flaccida, where it must be confessed the species show a tendency to run into one another. In the present 

case we have included in Elachistea only the species in which, besides the paraphyses which cover the 

surface, there are long projecting colored filaments as in E. scutulata, on which Duby founded his genus 

Elachistea in the Botanicon Gallicon. Here undoubtedly belong E. fucicola and its allies, but the same 

can hardly be said of E. pulvinata, which was made by Kützing the type of his genus Myriactis. In this 

species the surface of the frond is covered by the paraphyses, but there is not in addition a series of 

elongated filaments as in E. fucicola, for the exserted hairs in E. pulvinata are of a quite different 

nature. We have referred E. pulvinata to the genus Myriactis, not, however, limiting the genus as 

Kützing has done, for some of the forms placed by him in Phycophila should be referred to Myriactis, 

although the greater part of them are correctly placed by algologists in Elachistea. It may be that there 

exist forms intermediate between the true Elachisteæ and Myriactis, but, from the study of dried 

specimens, we have not been able to come to such a conclusion. It should be remarked that M. 

pulvinata is placed in Elachistea by the most prominent algologists, as Thuret and Bornet, Agardh, 

Harvey, Le Jolis, and others. The unilocular sporangia are most common in summer, and the 

plurilocular sporangia are more frequent early in the season.


E. FUCICOLA, Fries; Phyc. Brit, Pl. 240; Ner. Am. Bor., Vol. I, Pl. 11 b. (Phycophila 

fucorum and P. Agardhii, Kütz., Tab. Phyc., Vol. VIII, Pl. 95, Fig. 2, and Pl. 96, Fig. 

1.) Pl. 7, Fig. 3. 

Fronds tufted, half an inch to an inch in thickness, basal portion distinct, 

subglobose, exserted filaments about .05 mm broad, attenuated at base, obtuse at 

apex, cells of lower portion broader than long, becoming longer in the upper portion; 

paraphyses recurved, clavate, submoniliform; unilocular sporangia .07-8 mm broad by 

.15-20 mm long, pyriform or obovate-rhombic. 

Common on Fuci along the whole coast. 

On submerged wood work, Eastport, Peak’s Island, Maine. 

A common parasite, forming small tufts on Fuci. There seems to be but one species on the coast of New 

England, although E. lubrica, Rupr., may be expected on Halosaccion. According to Areschoug, E. 

lubrica differs from E. fucicola in the shorter cells and the decidedly elongated base of the free 

filaments, but in these respects European specimens of E. fucicola vary greatly. Possibly the form 

occurring on wood at Eastport may be rather referred to E. lubrica. Ruprecht, in Phycologia Ochotensis, 

mentions an Elachistea from Canada parasitic on Halosaccion, which he considers distinct from both E. 

lubrica and E. fucicola, to which he gives the provisional name of E. canadensis. It is distinguished, 

from E. fucicola “by the thicker filaments, which never give off free branches at the base, by the dense, 

indistinctly filamentous structure of the basal layer, and by the greater number of short filaments and 

few long filaments.” From Ruprecht’s description it is hardly likely that the species will ever be 

recognized by American collectors. The views of Ruprecht with regard to development in algæ are 

curiously shown in his remarks on Elachista, Myrionema, and Leathesia. He thinks it very probable 

that the genera named were “originally organs of fructification of Halidrys, Cystoseira, &c., which in 

course of time have not developed, and have in this way formed what appear to be stereotyped species.” 

Although the fact is not as Ruprecht supposed, this pronounced tendency to Darwinism is remarkable 

when we think that Ruprecht wrote in 1850. 

MYRIACTIS, Kütz., emend. 

(From µυριος [myrios], countless, and ακτις [aktis], a ray.) 

Fronds as in Elachistea, but destitute of exserted colored filaments. 

A comparison of the two admirable plates of Elachistea scutulata and Elachistea (Myriactis) pulvinata 

in the Études Phycologiques of Thuret and Bornet will give a clear notion of the difference of the two 

genera. 

M. PULVINATA, Kütz. Var. MINOR. (Elachistea pulvinata, Harv., in Études 

Phycologiques, p. 18, Pl. 7—Elachistea attenuata, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 28.) 

Fronds forming minute tufts, basal portion slightly developed, giving off lateral 

filaments, which penetrate the substratum; paraphyses slightly curved, fusiform, 

attenuated at base, somewhat moniliform; cells .0075-180 mm broad, two or three 

times as long; plurilocular sporangia very numerous, clustered at the base of the 

paraphyses, cylindrical, 

S. Miss. 59——6

82 


0076 mm broad by about .057 mm long, composed of 8-10 cells in a row unilocular 

sporangia. 

Parasitic in the cryptostomata of Sargassum vulgare. Summer. 

Wood’s Holl, Mass. 

This species forms minute tufts on Sargassum, and is so small as easily to escape detection. It is 

furthermore likely to be mistaken for the hairs normally found at certain seasons in the cryptostomata. 

The description given above applies to the plant found at Wood’s Holl, which is smaller than the typical 

M. pulvinata of Europe, which grows in the cryptostomata of various Cystoseiræ. In the European 

specimens examined the paraphyses were decidedly stouter, rarely being less than .018 mm in breadth, 

whereas with us they are seldom more than .010-12 mm broad. Our plant is through- [sic] but smaller 

than the European, but, in proportion, the paraphyses are longer and slenderer. It remains to be seen 

whether we are correct in considering our form a mere variety, or whether it should be kept distinct. 

Perhaps it may be the Phycophila arabica of Kützing, Tab. Phyc., Vol. 8, Pl. 1, Fig. 2, which grows on 

Cystoseira myrica. The species is not uncommon in summer at Wood’s Holl, and both forms of sporangia 

occur together, the unilocular being much less abundant than the plurilocular. 

LEATHESIA, S. F. Gray. 

(Named in honor of Rev. G. R. Leathes, a British naturalist.) 

Fronds olive-brown, gelatino-carnose, forming irregularly globose masses, solid 

when young, but soon becoming hollow; internal portion composed of radiating, 

dichotomous filaments, formed of large, irregular, colorless cells, the terminal ones 

bearing a series of short, simple, colored filaments (paraphyses), which are densely 

packed together, constituting the cortical layer of the frond; sporangia and hairs 

borne at the base of the paraphyses; plurilocular sporangia cylindrical, composed of 

few cells in a single row; unilocular sporangia pyriform or ovoid. 

A small genus, comprising not more than half a dozen species, of which L. difformis is common in the 

North Atlantic. Leathesia Berkeleyi, Harv., now placed in the genus Petrospongium,; Næg., although 

found not rarely in Europe and apparently tolerably common on the coast of California, has not yet 

been detected in New England, but may be expected. It forms rather leathery expansions on rocks at 

low-water mark. 

L. DIFFORMIS, (Linn.) Aresch. (Tremella difformis, Linn., Syst.—Rivularia 

tuberiformis, Engl. Bot., Pl. 1956.—Corynephora marina, Ag., Syst.—Leathesia 

tuberiformis, Gray, in Phyc. Brit., Pl. 324, and Ner. Am. Bor., Vol. I, Pl. 10 c; Thuret, 

in Ann. des Sciences, Ser. 3, Vol. XIV, Pl. 26, Figs. 5-12.) (Pl. V, Fig. 1.) 

Fronds from half an inch to two inches in diameter, solitary or aggregated, at first 

globose and solid, becoming irregularly lobed and hollow; plurilocular sporangia 

produced early in the season, unilocular sporangia in summer.


Common on algæ and on sand-covered rocks at low water along the whole coast. 

Not to be mistaken for any other alga on our coast. The gelatinous balls which this species forms are 

found growing in large quantities at low-water mark, and are sometimes called potatoes by the 

unromantic dwellers on the shore. 

FAMILY CHORDARIEÆ. 

Fronds cylindrical, branching, usually gelatinous, with an axis of longitudinal 

filaments formed of long slender cells, and a cortex composed of short, densely 

packed horizontal filaments formed of subspherical cells; sporangia borne among the 

cortical filaments or formed directly from them. 

Fronds tough and elastic, cortical filaments densely united to one another Chordaria. 

Fronds gelatinous, cortical filaments only adhering loosely to one another. 

Upper cells of the cortical filaments producing the plurilocular sporangia 

............................................................................Castagnea. 

Upper cells of cortical filaments not producing sporangia. 

Mesogloia. 

CHORDARIA, Ag. 

(From chorda, a chord.) 

Fronds olive-brown, cartilaginous, filiform, branching; axial layer composed of 

longitudinally elongated cylindrical cells and smaller winding cells packed closely 

together in a solid mass; peripheral layer composed of short, simple, horizontal 

filaments, densely packed together; unilocular sporangia oblong, borne at the base of 

the peripheral filaments (paraphyses), plurilocular sporangia unknown. 

The distinction between the genera Chordaria and Mesogloia, in the absence of a knowledge of the 

development of the fronds, must be quite arbitrary. In the present instance we have considered that the 

genus Chordaria should be limited to the forms having a tough cartilaginous substance and solid axis, 

of which we have only one representative, C. flagelliformis. C. divaricata, both in its consistency and 

the development of the frond, seems to belong to Mesogloia, accepting that genus in an extended sense 

as we have done. 

C. FLAGELLIFORMIS, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 3. Pl. V, Fig. 2. 

Fronds blackish, solitary or gregarious, attached by a disk, coriaceous, lubricous, one 

to two feet long, filiform, solid, main axis usually undivided, furnished with 

numerous long, subequal, flagelliform branches, which are given off at wide angles, 

simple or with few, irregular, secondary branches; peripheral filaments 

(paraphyses) few-celled, cylindrical or slightly club-shaped ; unilocular sporangia 

ovoid or pyriform.

84 


Var. DENSA. 

Fronds six to eight inches long, main axis densely clothed with very numerous short 

branches. 

Common on stones near low-water mark along the whole coast. 

The var. densa at Gloucester, Mass., Mrs. Davis. 

A common species, recognized by its tough, somewhat elastic substance, and reminding one of bunches 

of small leather shoe-strings. When soaked in water it gives out a large amount of slime, and is not 

easily mounted. To the naked eye it resembles some of the forms of Dictyosiphon, but the microscopic 

structure is very different. The variety has been collected several times at Gloucester, but has not been 

received from other localities. 

MESOGLOIA, Ag. 

(From µεσος [mesos], the middle, and γλοιος [gloios], slimy.) 

Fronds olive-brown, gelatinous, filiform, branching; axial layer composed of 

filaments rather loosely united into a solid mass, which soon becomes fistulose; 

peripheral layer of short horizontal filaments, packed in a gelatinous substance; 

unilocular sporangia oval, borne at the base of peripheral filaments; plurilocular 

sporangia unknown. 

The old genus Mesogloia has been divided by modern algologists into a number of genera. In the 

present instance we have kept in Mesogloia the species in which the peripheral filaments are not 

transformed into plurilocular sporangia, and have placed in Castagnea the species in which they are so 

transformed. The distinction between Mesogloia and Castagnea is artificial, because the plurilocular 

sporangia of Mesogloia proper are unknown, and it is not impossible that they may be formed from the 

peripheral filaments themselves, as in Castagnea. The development of the fronds is not well known, 

and the genera founded upon the variations in the mature fronds in the present group are plainly 

artificial. As regards its development, M. divaricata resembles very closely C. virescens. From a disklike 

expansion, composed of a single layer of cells, which form spots on the substance upon which it is 

growing, arise vertical filaments, which end in a hair such as is found in Ectocarpus and other 

Phæosporeæ. The vertical filaments produce, usually only on one side, fasciculated branches terminated 

by a hair, beneath which is a cluster of short moniliform filaments. Besides these there arise, at a later 

period, rhizoidal filaments. The mature fronds of the two species above named may be regarded as a 

collection of filaments with a trichothallic growth, which have become twisted together and partially 

united by means of the rhizoidal filaments, and whose fasciculated branches constitute what, in the 

mature plant, seems to be a distinct cortical layer. In Castagnea virescens the separate filaments, with 

their lateral fasciculate branches, can easily be isolated by dissecting the smaller branches, and the 

same thing can also be accomplished with Chordaria divaricata, although not so easily. The species of 

Mesogloia and Castagnea should not be dried under too heavy pressure, and alcoholic specimens are 

much better for study than those mounted on paper. 

M. DIVARICATA, Kütz. (Chordaria divaricata, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 17; Ner. Am. Bor., 

Vol. I, Pl. 11 a.) 

Fronds tufted, lubricous, six inches to two feet long, branching very irregular, 

generally without a definite main axis; branches flexuous, ultimate branches very 

numerous, short, and divaricate, at first solid,


afterwards becoming fistulose and tubular; peripheral filaments short, few-celled, 

the last cell obovate and several times-larger than the other cells; unilocular 

sporangia ovoid. 

On algæ and stones near low-water mark. 

Very common from Cape Cod southward; Niles Beach, Gloucester, Mass.; Europe. 

A characteristic species of Long Island Sound, where it is probably more abundant than in any other 

part of the world. It abounds in still, shallow bays. North of Cape Cod it is of small size, and is only 

occasionally met with. It assumes a number of different forms, none of which, however, can be 

considered as distinct varieties. It first appears in May, and reaches perfection in August and 

September. At first the fronds are small and solid, but they grow to be two feet long, or even longer, and 

the main branches become hollow and finally collapsed. Except that they are more luxuriant, our forms 

agree well with Norwegian specimens. 

M. VERMICULARIS, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 31. 

Fronds tufted, gelatinous, one to two feet long, branches long, irregularly pinnate, 

thick, vermiform, flexuous; peripheral filaments clavate, somewhat incurved, 

moniliform cells spheroidal; unilocular sporangia ovoid. 

On stones and algæ between tide-marks. 

Halifax, N. S., Harvey; Europe. 

A rather common plant of Europe, and probably occurring within our limits, but as yet only reported at 

Halifax on the American coast. The species is rather thick and clumsy, and very gelatinous; not at all 

likely to be confounded with M. divaricata, which is less gelatinous, has a different mode of branching, 

and whose peripheral filaments are terminated by a cell much larger than the others. Dried specimens 

may be mistaken for Castagnea virescens, a more slender plant, with longer and more slender 

peripheral filaments, the upper cells of which are transformed into plurilocular sporangia. We have 

only examined dried specimens of this species. 

CASTAGNEA, (Derb. & Sol.) Thuret, emend. 

(In honor of Louis Castagne, a French botanist.) 

Fronds and unilocular sporangia as in Mesogloia; plurilocular sporangia formed by 

outgrowths from the uppermost cells of the peripheral filaments. 

C. VIRESCENS, (Carm.) Thuret. (Mesogloia virescens, Carm., in Phyc. Brit.; Ner. Am. 

Bor., Vol. 1, Pl. 10 b; Ann. Sci. Nat., Ser. 3, Vol. 14, Pl. 27.) Pl. 7, Fig. 1. 

Fronds filiform, gelatinous, three inches to a foot and a half long, axis clothed with 

numerous, irregular, flexuous branches, ultimate branches short, given off at wide 

angles; fronds at first solid, becoming fistulous; peripheral filaments slender, 

clustered, recurved or incurved, cylindrical or only slightly moniliform, cells 

ellipsoidal, .015-20 mm in diameter; unilocular sporangia ovoidal or rhombic-ovate; 

plurilocular sporangia

86 


siliculose, composed of three to six cells, formed from the terminal cells of peripheral 

filaments, often secund on the upper side. 

On sand-covered rocks and algæ at and below low-water mark. 

Wood’s Holl, Nahant, Gloucester, Mass.; Portland, Maine, Mr. Fuller; Europe. 

A species which is rather common in the spring months, but which disappears with us about the 1 st of 

July. The fronds are more slender than in M. vermicularis, but when dried under too great pressure, or 

when allowed to remain some time in fresh water, they somewhat resemble that species. The 

distinction is best seen in the peripheral filaments. Those of M. vermicularis are shorter, decidedly 

clavate, less curved, and are formed of spheroidal cells In C. virescens they are longer, more nearly 

cylindrical, recurved, and formed of ellipsoidal cells. The number and size of the plurilocular sporangia 

vary very much. 

C. ZOSTERÆ, (Mohr.) Thuret. (Myriocladia zosteræ, Ag.—Mesogloia vermicularis, var. 

zosteræ, Kütz., Spec. Alg.—M. virescens, var. zostericola, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 82.— 

M. zosteræ, Aresch., in Ner. Am. Bor.‚ Vol. I, p. 127, Pl. 10 a.) Pl. 7, Fig. 2. 

Fronds filiform, gelatinous, three to eight inches long, subsimple, furnished with a 

few short, remote branches, given off at wide angles; peripheral filaments erect, 

rather rigid, cylindrical below, moniliform above; cells spheroidal, .02-4 mm in 

diameter; unilocular sporangia ovate; plurilocular sporangia siliculose, composed of 

three to six cells, usually forming dense tufts on the upper part of the peripheral 

filaments. 

On eel-grass. 

Wood’s Holl, Gloucester, Mass.; Europe. 

A small species with very few branches, which, although it has been by some considered a variety of C. 

virescens, is sufficiently distinct both in its microscopic structure and the season of growth. C. virescens 

is a spring form, which disappears in early summer, while C. Zosteræ, at least on our coast, occurs in 

summer and autumn. The appearance of the peripheral filaments is different in the two species. In C. 

virescens they are slender and curved and in C. zosteræ rather stout and erect and more densely packed 

together, in this respect resembling M. vermicularis, in which, however, the filaments are distinctly 

clavate and moniliform, and do not produce plurilocular sporangia at the extremity. A section of the 

frond of a well-developed C. virescens shows a circle of roundish cells around a central cavity and on the 

outside a series of branching filaments, which end in the proper peripheral filaments and sporangia. In 

C. Zosteræ there is also a circle of cells surrounding a central cavity, but the peripheral filaments seem 

to be given off directly from the circle of cells. The figure in the Nereis Am. Bor. does not correctly 

represent the structure of C. Zosteræ, for the clusters of peripheral filaments are not outgrowths from 

special colored filaments, but from the uncolored cells. American specimens agree perfectly with the 

specimens of Mesogloia zosteræ, No. 100, of Areschoug’s Alg. Scand. 

FAMILY RALFSIEÆ. 

Fronds horizontally expanded, sometimes crustaceous; fructification in raised spots 

(sori), composed of few-celled club-shaped paraphyses and spheroidal unilocular 

sporangia.


RALFSIA, Berkeley. 

(In honor of John Ralfs, an English botanist.) 

Fronds olive-brown, forming flat coriaceous or crustaceous expansions of indefinite 

extent, composed of a single horizontal layer, from which arise short vertical 

filaments, which are firmly united to one another so as to form a solid 

parenchymatous structure; fruit scattered over the surface of the fronds in spots 

(sori), which are composed of club-shaped, several-celled paraphyses, at whose base 

are borne the unilocular sporangia; hairs arising from crypts in the frond; 

plurilocular sporangia unknown; growth peripheral. 

A genus containing only about half a dozen species. In its mode of growth the frond resembles that of 

Myrionema, but the vertical filaments are not free, as in that genus, but united so as to form a solid 

mass. R. verrucosa, the typical species, has a well-developed frond, but in R. clavata the frond is minute 

and the fruit-dots are usually confluent, so that the species has by some been placed in Myrionema. 

R. VERRUCOSA, Aresch. (R. deusta, Berk.; Phyc. Brit, Pl. 98.) Fronds licheniform, 

adherent throughout, crustaceous or membranaceous, at first orbicular, at length 

becoming indefinite in outline, one to six inches in diameter, zoned and irregularly 

tuberculated, the newer lobes overlapping the older; sori scattered; paraphyses .06- 

12 mm long, clavate, few-celled; unilocular sporangia ovoid or pyriform, .038 mm long by 

.019 mm broad. 

Common on rocks in pools at half-tide from Nahant northward; Europe. 

A homely, dark-colored species, which has more the habit of a lichen than an alga. It abounds on the 

northern coast in shallow exposed pools, and is found at all seasons. At first the crusts are of small size 

and adhere closely to the rocks, but afterwards, as they increase in size, they become lobulated and 

rough and are easily detached. The species, contrary to the statement of Janczewski, is furnished with 

tufts of hairs at certain seasons of the year. It may occur also south of Cape Cod, but, if so, it must be in 

a reduced form. 

R. DEUSTA, J. Ag. 

Fronds licheniform, membranaceous, attached at center, margin free, irregularly 

orbicular, with overlapping marginal lobes, marked with concentric zones and with 

radiating striæ; spores? 

At low water mark. 

Eastport, Maine. 

A larger and more foliaceous species than the preceding, being about .25-30 mm in thickness. Both the 

concentric zones and radiating striæ are well marked, and the species is comparatively loosely attached 

to the substratum. On sectioning the fronds of R. deusta, the cells are seen to be arranged in lines 

which curved upwards and down wards from a medial plane, while a section of the frond of R. verrucosa 

shows the cells arranged in lines which curve upwards from the attached base.

88 


R. CLAVATA, (Carm.) Crouan, Florule du Finistère. (Myrionema clavaturn, Carm., in 

Phyc. Brit., Pl. 348.) 

Fronds thin, forming closely adherent crusts or coriaceous expansions, at first 

orbicular and afterwards irregular; paraphyses clavate, rather uniformly diffused 

over the frond; unilocular sporangia pyriform, .06-7 mm broad by .15-.18 mm long, 

attached to the base of the paraphyses. 

On stones and wood work 

Eastport, Maine; Wood’s Holl, Maiden, Mass.; Europe. 

A small species, whose position is, doubtful. It was placed by Harvey in Myrionema, from the typical 

species of which it differs in having a frond composed of several layers of horizontal cells. By Crouan it 

was placed in Ralfsia, but the erect filaments rather resemble the paraphyses in Myrionema. In short, 

the species may be said to be a Ralfsia with diffuse fructification and slightly developed frond, or a 

Myrionema with an excessively developed basal portion. American specimens resemble perfectly the 

No. 56 of Crouan’s Algues Marines du Finistère. The alga described by Areschoug under the name of 

Lithoderma fatiscens bears a striking resemblence [sic] to the present, species. The species is much 

smaller and thinner than R. verrucosa, not exceeding on the average .15 mm in thickness, and covers 

stones and wood work at Eastport, sometimes in company with R. verrucosa. Further inquiry will 

probably show that the plant is common along the whole coast. 

FAMILY ASPEROCOCCEÆ. 

Fronds tubular or compressed, usually simple, occasionally branched; fructification 

in external scattered sori, composed of cylindrical few-celled paraphyses and 

spherical unilocular sporangia. 

ASPEROCOCCUS, Lam. 

(From asper, rough, and κοκκος [kokkos], a berry.) 

Fronds olive-brown, simple or branched, hollow, composed of a few layers of cells, 

those of the interior being larger and colorless, those of the surface smaller and 

colored; fruit external, scattered in spots (sori) over the fronds; sori composed of 

paraphyses and unilocular sporangia, which are formed from the superficial cells of 

the fronds; paraphyses numerous, cylindrical or club-shaped; unilocular sporangia 

globose, sessile between the paraphyses; plurilocular sporangia unknown; hairs 

tufted, arising from the superficial cells; growth of fronds basal. 

The genus Asperococcus is distinguished by the external scattered fruit, consisting of paraphyses and 

unilocular sporangia. In the Nereis Am. Bor. it was placed by Harvey in the order Dictyotaceæ, but the 

fructification in that order is now known to be very different. The genus comprises a small number of 

species, which are widely diffused, although as yet only one has been found on the New England coast. 

The Asperococci resemble, to a certain extent, species of Phyllitis and Scytosiphon, but are easily 

distinguished by the fruit, which is almost always present. Plurilocular sporangia are unknown in the 

true Asperococci, and the old A. sinuosus, which is found in Florida and California, is considered by 

Bornet to belong to the genus Hydroclathrus, which has plurilocular sporangia of the same type as 

Phyllitis and Scytosiphon. A. compressus


and A. bullosus are to be expected to occur with us. The A. compressus of the List of the Marine Algæ of 

the United States, in the Proc. Am. Acad. Arts and Sciences of March, 1875, is an error. The only 

specimen seen was collected at Gloucester by Mrs. Lusk, and proves to be a bleached and brownish 

fragment of Halosaccion. 

A. ECHINATUS, Grev.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 194. (Pl. V, Fig. 3.) 

Fronds gregarious, simple, attached by a small disk from two inches to a foot and a 

half long, about half an inch in diameter, tapering at base, often twisted but not 

constricted, color a dingy brown, spotted with the very numerous sori. 

Attached to algæ between tide-marks. 


A homely species, usually found in tufts four or five inches long, and of about the substance of 

Scytosiphon lomentarius but usually spotted with the numerous fruit-dots. The diameter, which is 

nearly uniform throughout, is about that of a clay pipe-stem, A. bullosus is much larger and more sacklike 

and often decidedly constricted. 

FAMILY SPOROCHNEÆ. 

Fronds cylindrical or tubular, branching, composed within of elongated cuboidal 

cells, which become smaller and roundish at the surface; fructification in external 

scattered sori, composed of club-shaped filamentous paraphyses and sporangia; 

unilocular sporangia spheroidal; plurilocular sporangia cylindrical formed of a single 

row of cells. 

Fronds solid, sori irregularly scattered ............................. Stilophora. 

Fronds hollow, sori arranged in transverse lines..................Striaria? 

STILOPHORA, Ag. 

(From στιλη [stile], a point, and φορεω [phoreo], to bear.) 

Fronds olive-brown, filiform, branching, solid, becoming hollow, composed internally 

of elongated colorless cells, which become smaller and colored towards the surface; 

fruit external, scattered in spots (sori) over the surface; sori hemispherical, 

consisting of club-shaped filamentous paraphyses, at whose base are borne the 

sporangia; unilocular sporangia ovoidal; plurilocular sporangia cylindrical, formed of 

a single row of cells. 

A genus placed by Agardh and Harvey in the Dictyotaceæ, but by other algologists considered more 

nearly related to the Sporochneæ. It includes only a small number of species, probably not more than 

eight, and is readily recognized by the external fruit in which the sporangia are borne at the base of 

clavate few-celled paraphyses. The development of the frond has not been made out, but at the tips of 

the branches is a complicated mass of filaments ending in hairs like those of Ectocarpus, at whose base 

are borne a few short, incurved, moniliform filaments. At a short distance below the apex of the frond 

the moniliform filaments disappear and the surface appears to consist of roundish cells where not 

interrupted by the numerous sori. It is probable that,

90 


as has been suggested by Janczewski in speaking of Sporochnus, the frond of Stilophora grows in a 

manner similar to that of Cutleria, which may be said to belong to the compound trichothallic type. 

S. RHIZODES, Ag. (Sporochnus rhizodes, Ag., Spec.—Spermatochnus rhizodes, Kütz., 

Spec.—Stilophora rhizodes, J. Agardh; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 70; Ann. Sci. Nat., Ser. 3, Vol. 

XIV, Pl. 28.) (Pl. V, Fig. 4, Pl. VI, Fig. 2.) 

Fronds attached by a disk, filiform, solid, becoming somewhat fistulous, six inches to 

two feet long, branching subdichotomously, destitute of distinct axis, branches 

becoming attenuated, ultimate divisions erect; sori very numerous, scattered 

irregularly over the frond; paraphyses few-celled, clavate, somewhat incurved; 

unilocular sporangia oval; plurilocular cylindrical. 

Not uncommon at various points in Vineyard Sound and Long Island Sound on algæ 

and eel-grass below low-water mark. 

The present species is sometimes found at the base of eel-grass and the larger algæ, but it is more 

commonly found in entangled masses a foot or two long washed ashore in sheltered bays after a heavy 

blow. The determination is not altogether satisfactory, for our plants are generally coarser than the 

European forms of the species. Nor do they correspond to S. Lyngbyei, which is coarser and more 

tubular, and has finer ultimate branches and sori which are somewhat remote and arranged in 

transverse bands, if we follow Harvey’s description. Another species, hardly coming within our limits, 

was found by Bailey in the Chesapeake and referred by Harvey, with considerable doubt, to S. 

papillosa, Ag. 

STRIARIA, Grev. 

(From stria, a ridge, referring to the arrangement of the sporangia in transverse lines.) 

Fronds attached by a disk, tubular, branched, cells of the interior large, roundish, of 

the exterior smaller and subrectangular; fruit conconsisting [sic] of sporangia (or 

spores?), arranged in transverse lines. 

A genus whose position is very doubtful, because the structure of the fruit is not sufficiently well 

known. By most writers it is placed in the Dictyotaceæ, but it is not certain that the typical species, S. 

attenuata, possesses the peculiar antheridia and tetraspores of that order. According to Areschoug, 

there are two forms of fruit, one immersed, as in Punctaria, the other external, as in Asperococcus. 

S. ATTENUATA, Grev., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 25; Ner. Am. Bor.‚ Vol. Ill, Suppl., p. 123. 

Fronds a few inches to a foot long; branches usually opposite, attenuated to a fine 

point. 

Flushing, L. I., Bailey. 

The only American specimen known is that mentioned by Harvey in the Supplement to the Nereis Am. 

Bor. as having been found at Flushing, L. I. 

FAMILY LAMINARIEÆ. 

Fronds large and coarse; species on our coast usually attached by root-like processes, 

and with a stipe and expanded lamina, in one genus


cylindrical; fructification in broad bands or large irregular spots, or occasionally 

covering the whole surface of frond, composed of large broadly clavate or wedgeshaped 

paraphyses and oval unilocular sporangia. 

Fronds cylindrical.................................................................... Chorda. 

Fronds with a midrib. 

Fronds perforated with holes ................................................. Agarum. 

Fronds entire, with lateral leaflets at the base of laminaAlaria. Fronds destitute of 

midrib. 

Cryptostomata present.......................................................Saccorhiza. 

Cryptostomata wanting......................................................Laminaria. 

CHORDA, Stack. 

(From chorda, a string.) 

Fronds olive-brown, attached by a disk, simple, cylindrical, hollow, with diaphragms 

at intervals; cells of tubular portion elongated, hexagonal in section, lined on the 

inside with filaments, which at intervals are woven together so as to form the 

diaphragms; whole surface of the frond clothed with cuneate-clavate cells 

(paraphyses), which form a cortical layer; unilocular sporangia ellipsoidal, situated 

between the paraphyses, growth basal; plurilocular sporangia unknown. 

A small genus, consisting of three or four species, which are by some writers placed in the 

Chordariaceæ and by others in the Laminariaceæ. The typical species, C. filum, may be regarded as the 

lowest representative of the Laminariaceæ, inasmuch as it has the basal mode of growth and the 

unicellular paraphyses of that order, but a simple frond in which there is no distinction of stipe and 

lamina. See, also, remarks under Scytosiphon. 

C. FILUM, Linn. (Scytosiphon filum, Ag.—Chorda filum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 107; Annales 

des Sciences, Ser. 3, Vol. XIV, Pl. 29, Figs. 5-10.) Pl. VI, Fig. 1. 

Fronds gregarious, cartilaginous-lubricous, quarter of an inch in diameter, from one 

to twelve feet long, attenuate at base, densely clothed with hyaline hairs; 

paraphyses cuneate-clavate, slightly longer than the sporangia and overlapping 

them. 

On stones at low-water mark and below. 


At once recognized by its cord-like appearance. The early form, which is densely covered with hairs, 

constitutes the C. tomentosa of some writers. Areschoug, however, considers that the true C. tomentosa 

of Lyngbye is distinct, and characterized by its elongated linear paraphyses, which are scarcely as long 

as the sporangia, which ripen early in the season, while those of C. filum ripen in the latter part of 

summer and autumn.

92 


LAMINARIA, Lamx.—Devil’s Aprons. 

(From lamina, a plate.) 

Fronds attached by a branching base,* stipitate, stipe expanding into a ribless entire 

or laciniate lamina; fruit forming bands or sori in the central part of the lamina, 

consisting of unicellular paraphyses and unilocular sporangia densely packed 

together; cryptostomata wanting. 

A genus comprising not far from twenty-five species, which inhabit principally seas in high latitudes. 

They all grow in pools at low-water mark and in deep water, and some attain a very large size. The 

limits of the genus are well fixed, but the same can by no means be said of the species, with regard to 

which writers differ very much. The difficulty arises partly from the fact that the species lose some of 

their characteristic marks in drying, so that the study of herbarium specimens is unsatisfactory, but 

still more from the fact that the species vary greatly in outline and habit according to the season and 

the place of growth, whether at an exposed or sheltered coast or whether submerged or partly exposed 

at low tide. In general, the species may be classed in two groups, those in which the frond is ribbon-like, 

that is, long in proportion to the breadth and not split up into segments, and those in which the frond is 

proportionately broader and fan-shaped and, except when young, laciniate. To the former group belongs 

the L. saccharina of older writers, to the latter L. digitata, and it is with regard to the extent to which 

subdivision shall be carried in the two cases mentioned that recent writers differ very widely. Our 

species have not been sufficiently studied in situ to warrant us in giving the determinations with any 

degree of confidence. More information with regard to their winter condition is very much needed. The 

most detailed account of the Laminariæ of the eastern coast is to be found in the paper of De la Pylaie 

in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Ser. 1, Vol. IV, 1824, entitled “Quelques observations sur les 

productions de File de Terre-Neuve, et sur quelques algues de la côte de France appartenant au genre 

Laminaire.” The article is accompanied by a plate in which is sufficiently well shown the habit of our 

common species. The same writer in 1829 gave a more extended account of his collections in the “Flore 

de Terre-Neuve et des lies Saint Pierre et Miclon,” an incomplete work comprehending the 

Laminariaceæ and Fucaceæ, of which, however, the plates were never published. The species of De la 

Pylaie have not been accepted without question by algologists, and all agree that he was too liberal in 

the formation of new species. Harvey ignores the greater part of them in the Nereis. Agardh and Le 

Jolis give them a more respectful consideration, and the former especially is inclined, in his paper on 

the Laminariaceæ and Fucaceæ of Greenland, to admit several of De la Pylaie’s species. In the present 

case we do not feel at liberty to make use of the notes with regard to American forms which have been 

kindly furnished by European correspondents, but must content ourselves with a superficial account of 

the perplexing forms of this exasperating genus, adding that the identity of our forms with those of 

Europe is not in all cases proved. 

Of the species of Laminaria given in the Nereis, L. fascia in now placed in Phyllitis; L. lorea and L. 

dermatodea refer to the same plant, which is now placed in Saccorhiza; L. longicruris is still kept as in 

the Nereis; L. saccharina and L. digitata are kept with limitations; and L. trilaminata is, as Harvey 

suspected, merely an abnormal winged form of some other species, corresponding to the trilaminate 

condition mentioned under Agarum Turneri. 

The marks used in distinguishing the species are the arrangment [sic] of the root-fibers; the structure 

of the stipe, whether solid or hollow, whether provided with distinct cavities containing mucus 

(muciparous glands) the shape of the lamina, more particularly 

*A few species, as L. solidungula, Ag., have a disk-like base, and L. sessilis, Ag., including L. apoda, 

Harv., found on our west coast, has no stipe properly speaking.


of its basal portion; the presence or absence of a series of alternate depressions and elevations within 

the margin; and the position of the fruit. The growing portion of the Laminariæ is at the base of the 

lamina, and the apex of the stipe and the old fronds are pushed off by the newly formed ones below. The 

fruit is perfected in autumn and winter. 

L. LONGICRURIS, De la Pyl. (L. longicruris, Ann. Sci., l. c., Pl. 9 a and b; Phyc. Brit., 

p. 339; Ner. Am. Bor., Vol. I, Pl. 6.) 

Exs.—Algæ Am. Bor., Farlow, Anderson & Eaton, No. 117. 

Fronds solitary or gregarious, attached by numerous long, slender, branching fibers; 

stipe six to twelve feet long, one to two inches thick, slender and solid at the base, 

becoming hollow and inflated at the middle and upper part, contracted at the apex; 

lamina ovate-lanceolate, five to twenty feet long, two to three feet broad; margin 

very wavy, within the margin two rows of depressed spots; fruit forming a 

continuous band in the center of the frond; color lightish brown; substance rather 

delicate. 

Common in deep water, and at Eastport at low-water mark. 

From Nahant, Mass., northward; North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. 

A striking species, easily recognized when in typical condition, but unfortunately variable, though not 

so much so as our other species. The root-fibers are long, rather slender, and much branched. The stipe 

is slender at the base, but expands gradually upwards until it is at times two inches in diameter. The 

greatest diameter is about two-thirds of the way up the stipe, which is then contracted, sometimes 

quite suddenly. When young and only a few inches long, the center of the stipe is filled with a solid 

mass of delicate filaments, but it soon becomes hollow. When torn from their attachments by storms, 

large specimens, in consequence of the hollow stipes, float in a peculiar way, the upper part of the stipe 

projecting above the water like an elbow and the lamina dipping below the surface. The lamina is, in 

comparison with the stipe, shorter and broader than in our other species. This is especially the case in 

young specimens, where the stipe may be several times longer than the lamina. In mature plants, 

however, the comparative length of the lamina varies very much with the place of growth. The present 

species has never been certainly known to occur south of Cape Cod. Specimens resembling L. 

saccharina, but with hollow stipes, have been collected in Long Island Sound. Whether really belonging 

to L. longicruris is doubtful, and the subject requires farther investigation. 

L. SACCHARINA, (Linn.) Lam.x.? 

Frond attached by numerous branching fibers; stipe solid throughout, terete, 

somewhat swollen in the middle, three inches to four feet long; lamina elongated, 

lanceolate, fusiform or cuneate at base, three to thirty feet long, six to eighteen 

inches wide; margin wavy, a row of depressions on each side of lamina; fruit forming 

a central band. 

Var. PHYLLITIS, Le Jol. (L. phyllitis, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 192.) 

Fronds small, lamina thin, margin slightly wavy, base of lamina fusiform.

94 


Var. CAPERATA, (De la Pyl.). (L. caperata, Ann. Sci., l. c., Pl. 9 c.) Stipe long in 

proportion to the lamina; laming thick, one to two feet broad, cuneate at base. 

Common on stones at low-water mark along the whole coast; var. caperata common 

north of Cape Cod. 

In the present species we include all the New England forms which have a solid stipe and undivided 

lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate frond. It is very probable that two, or possibly three, really distinct 

species are thus united, and it is also doubtful whether any of our forms are the same as L. saccharina 

of Europe, as limited by recent writers. Clearly to distinguish them is, however, at present out of the 

question. In going northward the forms here included become broader, and the base of the lamina is 

more frequently obtuse, and possibly the extreme forms should be referred to L. latifolia, Ag. The exact 

determination of the New England forms referred to L. saccharina cannot be successfully undertaken 

without an examination of European herbaria. Probably we have most of the forms described by De la 

Pylaie in the Flore de Terre-Neuve, but that writer has not displayed a commendable caution in the 

description of new species; and as European botanists differ as to what species the forms of De la Pylaie 

are to be referred, American botanists would not help the matter by pretending to give accurate 

determinations. De la Pylaie says that at Newfoundand [sic] L. saccharina does not occur, but is 

replaced by L. longicruris. The statement is singular, since, from De la Pylaie’s own description, L. 

caperata closely resembles L. saccharina; and if any species may be said to replace L. saccharina, it is 

L. caperata, rather than the abundantly distinct L. longicruris. 

L. DIGITATA, (Turn.) Lamx. (L. digitata, Ner. Am. Bor.—L. stenoloba, De la Pyl., 

Ann. Sci. Nat., l. c., Pl. 9 k.) 

Exs.—Algæ Am. Bor., Farlow, Anderson & Eaton, No. 119, sub. nom. L. flexicaulis. 

Fronds attached by fibers, which are often arranged in whorls; stipe solid, stout, one 

to five feet long, more or less round below, compressed above, destitute of 

muciparous glands; lamina at first oval or lanceolate, afterwards split into digitate 

segments, two to six feet long, one to three feet wide; base fusiform or ovate; fruit in 

dispersed patches on the segments. 

Montauk, L. I.; Gay Head, Mass.; and common north of Cape Cod. 

With regard to the limits of L. digitata a difference of opinion prevails; and in the present case we have 

retained, without criticism, the older name to designate the common digitate form of our coast. Of the 

two species described by Le Jolis it is probable that we have L. flexicaulis comprehended in the present 

form. The species is common with us in pools at low-water mark and below. The stipe varies 

considerably in length, according to the place of growth, and when well developed is stout and much 

compressed above, so that it projects rigidly above the surface of the water at low tide. The lamina is 

usually more or less fusiform at the base, but is sometimes oval, and the segments vary considerably, 

sometimes being very numerous. 

L. PLATYMERIS, De la Pyl., Ann. Sci. Nat., l. c. Pl. 9 i. Fronds attached by stout, 

irregularly placed fibers; stipe six inches to a foot long, solid, roundish, compressed, 

provided with muciparous


glands, passing abruptly into a broadly ovate or cordate lamina, which splits up into 

a few broad segments; substance thick, color blackish. 

Deep water. 

Peak’s Island, Maine; Gloucester, Mass. 

Distinguished from the last by its short, thick stipe, which is furnished with muciparous glands, and 

which terminates abruptly in a broad, thick lamina, which is usually decidedly cordate at the base. It is 

an inhabitant of deep water, and is occasionally found washed ashore in the autumn, but is always 

much less common than the last species. Le Jolis considers that L. platymeris is, at least in part, the 

same as his L. flexicaulis; but what seems to us to be the true L. platymeris differs from L. flexicaulis in 

having muciparous glands in the stipe, a peculiarity which, according to Le Jolis, is found in L. 

Cloustoni, but not in L. flexicaulis. 

SACCORHIZA, De la Pyl. 

(From σακκος [sakkos], a sack, and ριζα [riza], a root.) 

Fronds attached at first by a disk-like base, from which are given off later a few 

short root-like fibers; stipe compressed, plane, gradually passing into a ribless 

lamina; cryptostomata scattered on both sides of the frond; fruit as in Laminaria. 

A genus differing from Laminaria principally in the form of the basal attachment and in the presence 

of cryptostomata on both surfaces of the frond. The typical species, S. bulbosa, not found on our coast, is 

attached by a sack-like base, and the fruit is borne on the marginal upper portion of the stipe. In the 

present genus were at one time included all the Laminariæ whose attachment is discoidal rather than 

by branching root-like fibers. There are, however, forms still retained in the genus Laminaria, as L. 

solidungula, in which the base is a disk, and our own species S. dermatodea, although in its younger 

stages attached by a disk, soon has a series of short fibers, which, as the plant increases in size, become 

branched. The cryptostomata are small pits sunk in the surface of the frond, from which arise groups of 

hairs, as in the Fucaceæ. They are visible to the naked eye in the young plants, but disappear with age. 

S. DERMATODEA, De la Pyl. (Laminaria dermatodea, De la Pyl., Ann. Sciences, l. c., 

Pl. 9 g, non Agardh nec Harvey.—L. lorea, Ag. Spec.; Harvey, in Ner. Am. Bor.) 


Fronds usually gregarious, base at first discoidal, afterwards with a whorl of short, 

thick, usually simple fibers; stipe six inches to two feet long, compressed, gradually 

expanding into a thick, coriaceous-lanceolate or lance-ovate lamina, one to six feet 

long, six to eighteen inches wide, at first entire, but afterwards torn above into 

several segments; fruit in scattered sori, which become confluent at the base of the 

frond; paraphyses narrowly club-shaped, about .15 mm long; sporangia .12 mm long by 

.02 mm broad. 

From Marblehead, Mass., northward. 

A characteristic species of the North Atlantic. Its southernmost limit is Marblehead, where only one 

specimen has been collected. It is less rare at Gloucester, and is rather

96 


common on the coast of Maine, but much less abundant than other Laminariæ. It is the most easily 

recognized of our Laminariæ, in spite of its great variability in outline. The substance is more tough 

and leathery than any of our other species and the margin is thick and never wavy. At Eastport it is 

found in deep pools, but elsewhere it is an inhabitant of deep water. As usually seen washed ashore it 

resembles one of the digitate forms of Laminaria, for it is usually torn into segments, and not rarely 

split to the very base. It is at once distinguished from our digitate Laminariæ by its uniformly flat 

stipe, very short root-fibers, and cryptostomata. In most cases the stipe expands very gradually into the 

blade, but occasionally in old specimens the base is cordate. The fruit is found in the autumn and 

winter. In the specimens which we have examined the paraphyses were very narrowly club-shaped and 

colored to the tip, being destitute of the hyaline tip found in Laminaria. 

AGARUM, (Bory) Post. & Rupr. 

(From agar-agar, a Malayan word referring to some edible sea-weed.) 

Fronds stipitate, attached by a branching root-like base; lamina perforated with 

roundish holes; stipe prolonged into a midrib; fruit scattered in patches (sori) over 

the fronds, consisting of club-shaped, one-celled paraphyses and ellipsoidal 

unilocular sporangia; plurilocular sporangia unknown. 

A genus differing from Laminaria in having the lamina perforated with round holes and furnished with 

a distinct midrib. It includes four described species, which differ in the size of the perforations, in the 

shape of the lamina, and the prominence of the midrib, characters which an observation of our common 

species shows to be very variable The species inhabit the Arctic Ocean, the northwestern shore of the 

Atlantic, and the North Pacific. The New England form, A. Turneri, also occurs in the Pacific extending 

as far south as Japan, and, on the west coast, A. fimbriatum, Harv., considered by Agardh to be the 

same as Fucus pertusus, Mertens, extends as far south as Santa Barbara, Cal. 

A. TURNERI, Post. & Rupr.—Sea Colander. (Fucus cribrosus, Mertens.—F. agarum, 

Turner, Hist. Fuc., Pl. 75.—Laminaria agarum and L. Boryi, De la Pyl., Flore de 

Terre-Neuve.—Agarum Turneri, Post. & Rupr., Illustr. Alg., Pl. 22; Ner. Am. Bor., 

Vol. I, Pl. 5.) 


Base much branched, stipe two inches to a foot long, cylindrical below, flattened 

above and prolonged into a distinctly marked midrib; lamina menbranaceous, one to 

four feet long, ovate-oblong, cordate and much crisped at base, margin wavy; 

perforations very numerous, orbicular, irregularly scattered with a smooth or wavy 

margin; fruit in irregular patches in the central part of the frond; sori .05-6 mm in 

thickness; paraphyses club-shaped, colored below, expanded and hyaline at the top; 

sporangia narrow, ellipsoidal, .035 mm long by .012 mm broad. 

Common from Nahant northward in deep water and at Eastport in pools; North 

Pacific. 

One of the curiosities of our marine flora, which is washed ashore from deep water at the southern limit 

of its growth, but farther north grows in pools at low-water mark.


The plant is perennial and young specimens are entirely without perforations until they have attained 

a length of two or three inches. The perforations, which are supposed by the fishermen to be the work of 

animals, are formed in the lower part of the frond and increase in size as they grow older, so that the 

perforations are larger in the upper and central parts of the frond. New holes are also formed between 

those already formed, so that there is a difference in size depending upon the age of the holes in all 

parts of the frond except the base. The formation of the holes begins by an elevation of small portions of 

the frond, which appears as if some small point like that of a pencil had been pressed against it; at 

length the frond ruptures circularly and the hole formed is minute and above the plane of the frond. 

The margins of the large holes are often wavy, and when dried with a slight pressure the waviness 

becomes so marked as to lead one to suppose that the specimens belong to a distinct species. The midrib 

varies considerably in breadth and occasionaly [sic] it grows out, forming a lamina at right angles to 

the frond. The usual perforations are found in the additional lamina, which sometimes grows to be as 

large as the original lamina. The fruit of Agarum, which is incorrectly figured in the Nereis as having a 

form of tetraspores, resembles very closely that of Laminaria. The species apparently does not bear 

fruit on the Massachusetts coast, at least we have never been able to find any; but at East port the fruit 

is formed as early as September. The sori are scattered irregularly over the central part of the frond 

and are most easily seen after the frond has been out of the water a short time. The sori are not so thick 

as in Alaria and Laminaria and the paraphyses do not have so prominent a hyaline extremity as in 

those genera. Harvey states that the lamina are sometimes ten or twelve feet long, but this is probably 

an overestimate. 

ALARIA, Grev. 

(From ala, a wing.) 

Fronds attached by a branching root-like base, stipitate, membranaceous, with a 

distinct midrib; fruit borne in special lateral leaflets below the lamina, consisting of 

club shaped, one celled paraphyses and ellipsoidal unilocular sporangia; plurilocular 

sporangia unknown. 

A genus readily known by the small, ribless leaflets given off from the stipe below the lamina, in which 

the the [sic] fruit is borne in the autumn. The genus inhabits the colder waters of the northern 

hemisphere and the species sometimes attain a length of fifty feet. The number of species does not 

exceed half a, dozen, and the specific marks, such as the shape of the midrib, the lateral leaflets, and 

the base of the lamina, are variable, so that all the species cannot be said to be well marked. 

A. ESCULENTA, Grev. (A. esculenta, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 79.—Laminaria musæfolia, De la 

Pyl., Ann. Sci. Nat., Ser. 1, Vol. IV, Pl. 9 d.—L. linearis, De la Pyl., l. c., Pl. 9 f.) 

Stipe cylindrical-compressed, from four inches to a foot long, a quarter to half an 

inch wide; midrib solid, scarcely wider than the stipe; lamina one to ten feet long or 

even longer, two to ten inches from side to side, decurrent on the stipe, margin wavy; 

fructiferous leaflets numerouse [sic], shortly stipitate, three to eight inches long, half 

an inch to two inches broad, linear-ovate or linear-spathulate. 

Var. LATIFOLIA, Post. & Rupr. (Laminaria Pylaii, Bory, in Flore 

S. Miss. 59——7

98 


de Terre-Neuve.—Alaria Pylaii, Ner. Am. Bor.—A. esculenta, var., Post. & Rupr., 

Illustr. Alg., Pl. 18.) 

Base of lamina cuneate, fructiferous leaflets obovate-spathulate. 

Common on exposed coasts at low-water mark and below, from Nahant northward. 

The variety at Eastport, Maine, Northern Europe, and Pacific coast. 

As yet no species of Alaria has been found south of Cape Cod, although it is probable that they occur at 

exposed points like Gay Head and Montauk. In the Annales des Sciences, De la Pylaie mentions three 

varieties of A. esculenta—platyphylla, tæniata, and remotifolia—as occurring at Newfoundland, and in 

the Flore de Terre-Neuve he makes two new species—Laminaria musæfolia, including L. esculenta, 

var. platyphylla and var. remotifolia, and L. linearis, including L. esculenta var. tæniata. These species 

are characterized by the different forms and position of the fructiferous leaflets, which, it must be 

admitted, are so variable and so constantly pass into one another, that De la Pylaie would have done 

better in retaining them all as forms of one species. Laminaria Pylaii, Bory, founded on a single 

specimen brought by De la Pylaie from Newfoundland, also seems to be merely a variety of L. esculenta, 

in which the lamina is cuneate at the base. At Eastport the broader forms are common, and one sees all 

stages from decurrent to cuneate laminæ. Agardh refers to L. Pylaii, Bory, the Alaria esculenta var. 

latifolia, of Postels and Ruprecht, whose plate represents excellently the extreme forms found at 

Eastport. The present species is used as food in Scotland and Ireland, where it is called badder-locks, 

henware, murlins, and also in Iceland, but it is not eaten with us. 

ORDER III. OOSPOREÆ, SACHS. 

Male organs (antheridia) composed of sacks borne on simple or branching filaments, 

sometimes sessile, containing motile antherozoids; female organ (oogonium) in the 

form of a sack, whose contents change into one or more spherical masses 

(oospheres), which are directly fertilized by the antherozoids and become oospores. 

In the order Conjugateæ there was a direct union of similar bodies called zoospores, and no clear 

distinction of male and female cells. In the Oosporeæ the males are small-motile bodies (in algæ), which 

directly impregnate the spherical masses of protoplasm, called oospheres, either before or after they 

have escaped from the mother-cell, the oogonium. As a result of the impregnation, a wall of cellulose is 

formed round what was before merely a mass of protoplasm, and the so-called oosphere becomes an 

oospore and capable of germinating. The marine plants of the order may be divided into two suborders, 

as follows: 

a. Large olive-green plants, having the antheridia and oogonia in nearly closed sacks borne in a 

definite part of the plant; fronds foliaceous, often provided with air-bladders FUCACEÆ. 

b. Minute grass-green plants forming turfs or tufts; antheridia and oogonia naked, sessile, or 

pedicellate, borne laterally on the unicellular branching frondVAUCHERIEÆ.


Suborder FUCACEÆ, C. Ag. 

Plants diœcious or hermaphrodite, fructifying organs borne in conceptacles or 

cavities lined with sterile filaments and opening outwards by a narrow pore; 

antheridia in ovoid sacks borne on branching threads and filled with minute 

antherozoids having two lateral cilia; oospores spherical, borne 1-8 in a mother-cell. 

Marine plants of an olive-green color, attached by a disk-like base, fronds usually 

branching dichotomously, rarely indefinitely expanded, often provided with airbladders 

and with cryptostomata. 

An order characterized by the presence of antherozoids borne in sacks and by oospores, varying in the 

different genera from one to eight in a mother-cell, both antheridia and oospores being contained in 

hollow conceptacles, which are produced either in definite parts of the frond or on special branches or 

rarely indefinitely scattered over the frond. The fertilization in this order was first described by Thuret 

in the Annales des Sciences, Ser. 4, Vol. 2. The fronds vary very much in the different genera. In 

Durvillæa the frond resembles a large Laminaria, and from this simple form there are all degrees of 

complication, until in Sargassum, the most highly developed genus, there are distinct stems, leaves, 

air-bladders, and branching fructiferous receptacles. In high latitudes the order is chiefly represented 

by the common rock-weeds, Fuci, which line the rocks between tide-marks, while in low latitudes the 

gulf-weeds, species of Sargassum, abound. The Southern Ocean abounds in curious and varied forms of 

this order, Australia being particularly rich in species. The New England coast is especially poor in 

representatives of the order, the genera Halidrys, Himanthalia, Pelvetia, and Cystoseira, common on 

the coast of Europe, being entirely wanting with us. The fronds are dotted with small pits, called 

cryptostomata, from which grow tufts of hairs. 

SYNOPSIS OF GENERA. 

Fronds with distinct stems and leaves ............................. Sargassum. 

Fronds without distinct stems and leaves— 

Lamina provided with a midrib, receptacles terminal, continuous with the frond 

...............................................................................................Fucus. 

Midrib wanting, receptacles on special lateral branchesAscophyllum. 

ASCOPHYLLUM, (Stackh.) Le Jolis, emend. 

(From ασκος [askos], a sack, and φυλλον [phyllon] a leaf.) 

Fronds attached by a disk, linear, compressed, destitute of a midrib, irregularly 

dichotomous, furnished with air-bladders; receptacles on distinct, simple, lateral 

branches; spores four in a mother-cell. 

A genus including the Fucus nodosus of older writers, which differs from the true Fuci in having a 

linear frond destitute of a midrib and spores in fours instead of in eights. The generic name Ozothallia 

proposed by Decaisne and Thuret, who were the first to give a detailed account of the conceptacles of F. 

nodosus, was referred by Le Jolis to the older genus Ascophylla of Stackhouse. 

A. NODOSUM, Le Jolis. (Fucus nodosus, L.; Phyc. Brit, Pl. 158; Her.

100 


Am. Bor., Vol. I, p. 68.—Fucodium nodosum, J. Ag.—Ozothallia nodosa, Dcne. & 

Thuret.—Ascophyllum nodosum, Le Jolis; Études Phycolologiques, Pls. 18-20.) 

Fronds diœcious, one to five feet long, coriaceous, compressed, subdichotomous, 

margin distantly toothed; air-bladders oblong, broader than the frond; receptacles 

ovoid or ellipsoidal, terminating short lateral branches, which are borne either 

solitary or clustered in the axils of the teeth. 

Common between tide-marks from New Jersey northward; Europe; Arctic Ocean. 

One of our most common species, easily recognized by the large bladders in the continuity of the frond, 

which is thick and narrow and entirely destitute of a midrib. The fruit is found in lateral branches in 

winter and spring, and in June the receptacles fall off and are sometimes found in immense quantities 

covering the bottoms of tide-pools. 

FUCUS, (L.) Dcne. & Thuret. 

(From φυκος [phykos], a sea-weed.) 

Fronds diœcious or hermaphrodite, attached by a disk, plane, costate, dichotomous, 

margin entire or serrate, often furnished with air-bladders; receptacles terminal, 

continuous with the frond; spores eight in a mother-cell. 

In the beginning of the present century the name Fucus was used not only to designate all the plants 

included in the present order, but was applied to all marine algæ. Since that date the word has been 

used in a more and more restricted sense, and is now only applied to those members of the Fucaceæ in 

which the spores are in eights and in which the frond is plane and costate. In some of the species, 

however, the midrib is rather indistinct. Most of our species are very abundant and very variable, and 

older writers have described as species a good many forms which are now considered to be merely 

varieties. Hence the synonymy of the species is in confusion, although our species, none of which are 

peculiar to America, can be referred to definite European forms. The species described by De la Pylaie 

in the Flore de Terre-Neuve are most of them to be referred to older species. The New England species 

naturally fall into two different groups. In the first, of which F. vesiculosus is the type, the fronds are 

diœcious and the midrib distinct throughout. In the second, represented by F. evanescens, they are 

hermaphrodite and the midrib indistinct. 

F. VESICULOSUS, L.; Phyc. Brit, Pl. 204; Études Phycol., Pl. 15. 

Fronds diœcious, six inches to three feet long, stipitate, midrib distinct throughout, 

margin entire, often wavy; bladders spherical or slightly elongated, usually in pairs; 

receptacles swollen, ellipsoidal or oval, often forked. 


Var. laterifructus, Grev. 

Lateral branches, which bear the receptacles, narrow and densely dichotomously 

flabellate.


Var. sphærocarpus, Ag. 

Ultimate divisions of frond repeatedly forked, bearing very numerous small 

receptacles. 

Var. spiralis. 

Fronds short and spirally twisted. 

Everywhere common between tide-marks. 

The varieties of this very common species are so numerous that it is useless to describe the greater part 

of them. The southernmost limit of the species on the eastern coast is, as far as known, the coast of 

North Carolina, where it is reported to have been collected by Rev. E. M. Forbes in Curtis’s account of 

the botany in the Geological and Natural History Survey of North Carolina. Fucus bicornis and F. 

microphyllus of De la Pylaie appear to be merely forms of F. vesiculosus. The species with which the 

present is likely to be confounded along our northern coast is F. evanescens, a broad plant, whose 

midrib is only distinct in the lower part of the frond, and whose conceptacles are hermaphrodite, not 

diœcious, as in the present species. It fruits most abundantly in autumn and winter, but the 

fructification can be seen at any season of the year. 

F. CERANOIDES, L.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 271. 

“Frond plane, coriaceo-membranaceous, linear-dichotomous, midribbed, without 

vesicles, margin very entire; lateral branches narrower than the principal divisions, 

repeatedly forked, level topped, bearing fruit at their apices; receptacles spindleshaped 

or bifid, acute.” (Ner. Am. Bor., Vol. I, p. 70.) 

New York, Agardh; Europe. 

The authority for the existence of this species on our coast is Agardh. Harvey had never seen American 

specimens, nor have we ever found any. The species, judging from herbarium specimens, resembles 

very closely L. vesiculosus especially var. laterifructus, but is said to be thinner and to be destitute of 

air-bladders. It inhabits rather brackish waters. 

F. SERRATUS, L.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 47; Études Phycol., Pls. . 11-14. 

Fronds diœcious, two to six feet long, midrib distinct throughout, margin serrate; 

bladders wanting; receptacles serrate, flattish, pointed. 

Newburyport, Mass., Captain Pike; Pictou, N. S., Rev. J. Fowler; Europe. 

A very common species of Europe, but very rare on our coast, being known in only two localities. In the 

supplement to the Nereis it is reported from Newburyport, having been once detected by Captain Pike, 

but not seen there since. The only other locality is Pictou, where it was detected by Rev. J. Fowler, who 

sent specimens to Professor Eaton in 1869. The species is easily recognized by its serrated margin, and 

grows lower down in the water than F. vesiculosus. 

F. EVANESCENS, Ag., Icon. Ined., Pl. 13. (Fucus platycarpus, in Farlow’s List of the 

Marine Algæ of the United States.) 

Fronds hermaphrodite, one to two feet long, stipitate, midrib distinct below, but 

widening and scarcely visible in the upper part, margin broad, entire, somewhat 

wavy; bladders usually wanting, when present much

102 


elongated; receptacles swollen, broad, usually united in pairs, and sometimes with a 

small margin formed of the unchanged frond. 


Eastport, Maine; coast of Massachusetts; Northern Europe; Arctic Ocean. 

A species apparently common north of Cape Cod, and at Eastport quite as common as F. vesiculosus, for 

which it might be mistaken. As found with us, it is broader than the last-named species and is usually 

without bladders, and when these occur they seem more like irregularly inflated portions of the frond 

than spherical cavities. The receptacles contain both antheridia and oospores, the latter occupying the 

base and the former the upper part of the conceptacle. The receptacles are broader and less swollen 

than in F. vesiculosus and are often in pairs, the pairs being united below. The whole plant is shorter, 

stouter, and more foliaceous than F. vesiculosus. The species as found in the Arctic regions is variable, 

and several forms have been described. The form which occurs at Eastport comes very near the typical 

form. F. miclonensis of De la Pylaie is probably a small form of the present. 

F. FURCATUS, Ag., Icon. Ined., Pl. 14. 

Fronds hermaphrodite, branching very regularly dichotomous, stipitate, one to three 

feet long, midrib distinct below, scarcely visible above, margin narrow, rigid, entire; 

bladders wanting; receptacles flat, narrow, linear-fusiform, sometimes forking. 


Peak’s Island, Maine; coast of Massachusetts north of Boston; Northern Europe; 

Arctic Ocean; North Pacific. 

A common and beautiful species on exposed coasts north of Boston. It is found lower down than F. 

vesiculosus, at the limit of low-water mark. The frond is narrow, tough, and destitute of bladders, and 

the branching very regular, almost flabellate. It is easily distinguished by the receptacles, which are 

not in the least swollen and are narrow and longer than in any other species, being sometimes four 

inches long. The color is dark.. Our form corresponds perfectly to specimens from Spitzbergen. The 

species is less variable than most of the genus and is found at all seasons of the year. 

F. FILIFORMIS, Gmelin. (F. distichus, L., in Farlow’s List of the Marine Algæ of the 

United States.) 

Fronds hermaphrodite, three to six inches long, flabellately dichotomous, stipitate 

below, midrib present but indistinct; air-bladders wanting; receptacles linear-oblong, 

swollen, borne in pairs, sometimes forking. 

In pools near high-water mark. 

Nahant, Marblehead, Mass. 

Our smallest species, found only in spring and in pools where the water is not very pure. Our form is 

the same as No. 201 of Areschoug’s Algæ Scandinavicæ, from Finmark, which Agardh refers to F. 

filiformis. Whether F. distichus, L., is not the same as F. filiformis, Gmelin, admits of doubt. The 

present form seems to be the F. filiformis of the Flore de Terre-Neuve, mentioned under F. distichus in 

the Nereis Am. Bor.


SARGASSUM, Ag. 

(From sargazo, the Spanish name for the gulf-weed) 

Fronds attached by a disk having branching stems, leaves with a midrib and 

distinctly stalked air-bladders; fruit in special compound branches; conceptacles 

hermaphrodite; spores single in the mother-cell. 

The most highly organized and by far the largest genus of the Fucaceæ, of which at least 150 species 

have been described. They inhabit the warmer waters of the globe, where they replace the Fuci. 

Australia, Japan, and the adjacent coast of Asia are particularly rich in species. We have one species 

which does not come north of Cape Cod, but which is common southward. The genus has been 

subdivided by Kützing, but even with his limitation the species of Sargassum are very numerous. 

S. VULGARE, Ag. (Fucus natans, Turner’s Hist. Fuc., Pl. 46, non Linn.—S. vulgare, 


Fronds two to five feet long, stem filiform, smooth, irregularly branching, leaves 

shortly petiolate, linear-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, one to three inches long, a 

quarter to half an inch wide, sharply serrate, midrib distinct, cryptostomata 

numerous on both sides of the midrib; air-bladders spherical, quarter of an inch in 

diameter, stalked, arising from a transformed leaf, the upper part of which often 

remains as an appendage; stalks naked or slightly winged; receptacles filiform, 

branching cymosely, one to two inches long. 

Var. MONTAGNEI. (S. Montagnei, Bailey, in Ner. Am. Bor., Vol. I, Pl. 1 a.) 

Leaves narrowly linear, elongated, receptacles two to four inches long. 

Below low-water mark in warm, shallow bays from Cape Cod southward. 

In spite of its variations, with the exception of S. bacciferum, which is sometimes washed ashore, we 

have but one species of Sargassum on our coast. As usually found, it is more slender in all its parts 

than the typical S. vulgare of the West Indies, but it is occasionally found of the typical form. In var. 

Montagnei, which is common, we have an extreme form, in which the fructifying branches are much 

elongated, but one sees all variations from short to long. 

S. BACCIFERUM, Ag.—Gulf-weed. (Fucus natans, L,; Turner’s Hist. Fuc., Pl. 47.—S. 

bacciferum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 109.) 

Fronds six inches to a foot and a half long, stems filiform, smooth, leaves linearlanceolate, 

two to four inches long, midrib distinct, crypto-stomata usually wanting; 

air-bladders stalked, spherical, tipped with a filiform point; receptacles short, 

cylindrical, forked. 

Washed ashore at Bath, L. I., Mr. A. R. Young, and found floating off the coast near 

the Gulf Stream; West Indies, and floating in the Atlantic. 

The common Gulf-weed, which grows attached in the West Indies, where it

104 


and which is found floating and infertile in the course of the Gulf Stream and in the so-called Sargasso 

Sea, between 20° and 45° N. and 40° W. It is rarely washed ashore in New England, but is frequently 

brought in by fishing vessels. It is said that there is a large mass of this sea-weed in the ocean not far 

from Nantucket, but there is no definite information on the subject. The species in its floating form is 

distinguished from the last by its narrower leaves, destitute of cryptostomata, its darker color, and 

denser habit. 

SUBORDER VAUCHERIEÆ. 

Comprising a single genus, Vaucheria, whose characters are given below. 

VAUCHERIA, D. C. 

(Named in honor of Jean Pierre Vaucher, of Geneva.) 

Fronds green, unicellular, composed of long, irregularly or falsely dichotomously 

branching filaments, monœcious or diœcious; oogonia sessile or stalked, containing a 

single oospore; antheridia either short ovoid sacks or formed at the tips of branches, 

which are frequently spirally twisted; antherozoids very small, with two cilia; nonsexual 

reproduction by very large zoospores, which are covered with cilia, or by 

motionless spores formed at the ends of short branches. 

The Vaucheriæ abound both on our coast and in inland waters, and some species grow upon damp 

ground in gardens and meadows. They either form thick turfs of a dark-green color when growing in 

places which are not constantly submerged, or else extend in indefinite-shaped masses when growing 

where there is plenty of water. They are generally easily recognized at sight, and are known under the 

microscope by the long branching filaments of a deep-green color, destitute of cross-partitions except 

when the fruit is forming. Although very abundant on our shore, the species are little known, because 

the specific characters depend upon the fruit. The determination of sterile specimens is out of the 

question, and, even when fruiting, dried specimens are of comparatively little value. A considerable 

number of species of Vaucheria have been described, but as a great part of them have been described 

from individuals bearing the non-sexual spores only, recent writers, as Walz and Nordstedt, have 

reduced the number of species very much by omitting imperfectly characterized forms. Nordstedt 

admits nineteen species in Europe. The American species have never been critically studied. Specimens 

should be kept in fluid rather than mounted on paper, and sketches of the fruit should be made at the 

time of gathering. It should not be forgotten by the collector that some of the species are diœcious, and 

also that a species is not perfectly known unless the non-sexual spores are described as well as the 

oospores. 

V. THURETII, Woronin, Beit. zur Kenntniss der Vaucherien, in Bot. Zeit., Vol. XXVII, 

p. 157, Pl. 2, Figs, 30-32. 

Monœcious; filaments .03-8 mm in diameter, forming short, dense turfs; antheridia 

sessile, oval, .05-7 mm broad by .10-14 mm long; contents of antheridia colorless; oogonia 

either sessile or on short lateral branches, obovoid or pyriform, inclined, .25-30 mm 

long by 20 mm wide; oospores spherical, .15-18 mm in diameter, yellowish brown; cellwall 

rather thin;


non-sexual spores (?) .08 mm broad by .10-12 mm long, motionless, borne on short 

branches, which are at right angles to the main filaments, from which they break 

off, allowing the spores to escape from the ruptured end. 

Exs.—Wittrock & Nordstedt, Alg. Scand., No. 228. 

On muddy shores and sides of ditches, where it forms large patches of a dark velvety 

green. Summer. 

Wood’s Holl, Mass.; Eastport, Maine; Perth Amboy, N. J., Wolle; Europe. 

This species, which is apparently common on muddy shores of New England, agrees so well with the 

description and figure of Woronin, l. c., that there can be no doubt about the identity of our plant with 

that of the European coast. The non-sexual fruit was unknown to Woronin. At Wood’s Holl we found 

what appeared to be the non-sexual fruit of the species. It consisted of oval spores, smaller than the 

oospores, borne at the tips of short branches, which were given off at right angles to the main 

filaments. The branches with the spores fall off, and the latter, after some time, escape from the 

ruptured end of the cell. The spores are motionless and destitute of cilia, reminding one of the nonsexual 

spores in V. geminata, Walz. During the four or five days which we were able to watch them 

they underwent no change. In the specimen of Wolle, above mentioned, similar bodies are found, but 

Nordstedt thinks it probable that they belong to a species different from V. Thuretii. He is led to this 

conclusion apparently from the fact that the filaments bearing the non-sexual spores are rather smaller 

than those which bear the oospores and antheridia. In the Wood’s Holl specimens the filaments were, 

as a rule, somewhat smaller than those bearing the oospores; but the difference is very slight, and one 

sometimes finds oosporiferous filaments measuring only .03 mm in diameter, while the non-sexual sporebearing 

filaments average from .04-5 mm in diameter. In one case we found an antheridium on the nonsexual 

spore-bearing filament, which resembled precisely the antheridia of V. Thuretii We conclude 

then that the non-sexual spores probably belong to the present species, but the question requires 

further examination. A specimen of what appears to be the same species exists in the collection of the 

Boston Society of Natural History. It was collected by Prof. J. W. Bailey from some locality near New 

York, and is labelled, in his own handwriting, V. velutina. 

V. LITOREA, Nordstedt (Ag., Spec. Alg., p. 463.—V. clavata, Lyngb., Hydrophyt. Dan., 

p. 78, Pl. 21 d.— V. litorea, Nordstedt, in Botan. Notiser., 1879, p. 180, Pl. 2, Figs. 1- 

6.—V. piloboloides, Farlow, List of Marine Algæ, 1876.) 

Diœcious; filaments densely tufted, rather rigid, .10 mm in diameter; antheridia?; 

oogonia club-shaped, borne on a short sterile cell at the tips of short recurved 

branches, .20 mm broad by about .35 mm long; oospores filling the upper part of 

oogonium, spheroidal, .18-19 mm broad by .23-25 mm long; cell-wall dense, .02 mm in 

thickness; non-sexual spores? 

At low-water mark in the gravel. 

Parker’s Point, Wood’s Holl, Mass.; Europe. 

We refer to the present species a Vaucheria much coarser than the species last described, which forms 

rather bristly tufts of a dingy green, from two to four inches high, in gravelly places. Only one 

specimen, collected in August, 1876, was in fruit,

106 


and at the time, as there were no antheridia, we hastily inferred that the spores were non-sexual. It 

now seems probable that the plant is the V. litorea of Nordstedt, l. c., a diœcious species. The species 

was common at Wood’s Holl in August, 1879, but constantly sterile. The antheridia of V. litorea, 

Nordstedt, are long and cylindrical and borne on a short sterile cell at the tips of the branches. The 

antherozoids are discharged by openings at the apex and sides of the antheridium. Our plant will be 

easily recognized by its habit and the recurved branches bearing the oogonia. 

ORDER IV. FLORIDEÆ. 

Algæ of a red or purple color; antheridia containing spherical, hyaline antherozoids, 

which are without cilia; sexual fruit or cystocarps developed from a procarp, which 

consists of a trichogyne, at whose base is a trichophore, the spores formed either 

from the trichophore or the adjacent cells which compose the carpogenic system; 

spores at maturity either naked or inclosed in a pericarp; non-sexual reproduction by 

tetraspores, bispores, and seirospores; fronds filamentous, crustaceous, 

membranaceous, or irregularly expanded, varying from gelatinous to cartilaginous 

in substance, occasionally calcareous. Principally marine. 

The Florideæ, which are the same as the Rhodospermeæ of Harvey, include a large number of species, 

all of which have some shade of red, although it may be nearly black on the one hand or approach 

shades of green on the other. In decay, however, the color becomes orange and finally green. It is not to 

be inferred, however, that all red algæ belong to the Florideæ . There are a few Cyanophyceæ in which 

the color is pink, but in these species the frond is merely an agglomeration of red cells, each of which is 

practically a distinct individual, whereas in the Florideæ the cells are organically united, and constitute 

a single plant. The structure of the frond in this order varies in the different genera, and we have forms 

which correspond closely to the fronds of the Phæosporeæ, as, for instance, in Nemalion we have a frond 

which, apart from its color, is undistinguishable from that of Mesogloia, and so on. The non-sexual 

reproduction is by tetraspores, cells which divide into four parts—rarely by bispores or two-parted 

cells—and seirospores, or chains of oblong cells formed directly from the branches. The sexual fruit, 

known as the cystocarp, is developed from a procarp, as has already been explained. The division into 

suborders is founded principally on the differences in the cystocarpic fruit, the full development of 

which is not known in many cases. Differences in the fronds and tetraspores serve to mark the genera. 

Agardh and Harvey divide the Florideæ into two series—the Desmiospermeæ, in which the spores are 

arranged in a definite series with regard to a placenta or common point of attachment, and 

Gongylospermeæ, where the spores are heaped together without order. A study of the development, 

however, shows that this distinction has not the value which it was formerly supposed to have, and 

certain suborders with differently arranged spores are by those who lay stress upon the development 

placed in proximity to others in which the spores are irregularly grouped. Although, owing to modern 

researches, we know much more about the real nature of the cystocarps than was known a few years 

ago, it must be admitted that the suborders of Florideæ are far from satisfactory. As a matter of fact, 

the order is a very natural one, and, as is the case with most natural orders, the species and genera 

pass so gradually into one another that sharply marked divisions are out of the question. At the base of 

the order is a small number of genera whose position is doubtful, owing to our lack of information about 

the fructification. Then come the Porphyreæ, in which we have fronds of a single layer of cells 

(Porphyra) and certain cells grow out so as to form a very short


trichogyne. After fertilization, the contents of the cell at the base of the trichogyne divide, quadrant 

fashion, and we have a number of spores produced at once from the original cell. In Nemalion the 

trichophore, or swollen base of the trichogyne, divides, and the divisions grow out laterally and form 

short filaments, each cell of which becomes a spore, so that at maturity the cystocarpic fruit consists of 

a dense tuft of radiating, moniliform filaments. In the Ceramieæ we have favellæ, or cystocarps, in 

which the carpogenic cells bud out and produce several lobes, each of which divides into a number of 

very short filaments, which do not separate from one another, but remain adherent. The cells of the 

filaments are changed into spores, which form irregular groups, but are still held together by the mass 

of jelly which surrounds them. In the more highly developed suborders the spores either radiate in 

filaments from a sort of placenta which is produced from the carpogenic cells or else are terminal on 

short stalks. The pericarps are special sacks or conceptacles, inclosing the spores and developed from 

the cells below the procarp, or we may have the cystocarps borne in the interior of solid fronds, whose 

external portion may then be said to form a pericarp around them. It will be seen that the structure of 

the Florideæ is more complicated than that of the other orders of algæ, and the student cannot expect 

to obtain a clear idea of the different suborders without considerable study. The folio wing key will aid 

somewhat, and the reader should consult the plates appended to this paper: 

1. Spores formed in the cells of the frond itself ............................... Porphyreæ. 

2. Spores (cystocarps) not formed directly from the cells of the frond, but from a special procarp 

.................................................................................................................... 3 

3. Spores without a special covering or pericarp .............................................. 4 

Spores with a special covering....................................................................... 10 

4. Spores naked ................................................................................................. 5 

Spores immersed in the frond ........................................................................... 7 

Spores immersed in external warts ................................................................... 6 

5. Spores free on the surface of a lobulated mass .................. Spermothamnieæ. 

Spores irregularly grouped in masses which are surrounded by a 

gelatinous envelope............................................................................Ceramieæ. 

6. Fronds erect, cylindrical........................................................ Spongiocarpeæ. 

Fronds horizontally expanded........................................................ Squamarieæ. 

7. Spores arranged in dense tufts of radiating moniliform filaments . Nemalieæ. 

Spores on an axile placenta in swollen branches .................................Gelidieæ. 

Spores in numerous radiating tufts around a central placenta or carpogenic cellSolierieæ. 

Spores arranged without order .......................................................................... 8 

8. Spores forming a single mass or nucleus and entirely buried in the frond.... 9 

Spores in several masses, separated by the tissue of the internal part of the frond and rising in 

swellings above the surface.......................................................Gigartineæ. 

9. Fronds hollow and tubular ...........................................................Dumontieæ. 

Fronds solid.................................................................................Cryptonemieæ. 

10. Spores arranged without regular order...................................................... 11 

Spores in small, scattered tufts, borne on branching filaments— 

Hypneæ. Spores in radiating moniliform filaments ........................................ 12

108 


Spores pyriform, on simple or branching stalks from a basal placenta........... 13 

11. Wall of the conceptacle thin, composed of the divisions of an involucre united by jelly 

..................................................................................................... Spyridieæ, 

Wall of conceptacle thick, sporiferous masses arranged around a placentaRhodymenieæ. 

12. Filaments arising from a single cell at the base of a thin membranaceous conceptacle which is 

sunk in the frond... Scinaia (Nemalieæ). Filaments arising from a distinct basal placenta, 

conceptacles external ..................................................... Sphærococcoideæ. 

13. Fronds coated with a calcareous incrustation............................. Corallineæ. 

Fronds without incrustation ...........................................................Rhodomeleæ. 

FLORIDEÆ INCERTÆ SEDIS. 

TRENTEPOHLIA, (Ag.) Prings. 

(Named in honor of Johann Friederich Trentepohl, of Oldenburg.) 

Fronds arising from a cellular base, filamentous, branching, composed, of short cells 

placed end to end, branches ending in a hair; spores single, borne in oval cells 

terminating lateral branches; antheridia and tetraspores unknown. 

A genus which in the present paper comprises a number of small marine species placed by some writers 

in Callithamnion and by others in Chantransia. In the Nereis Am. Bor., Harvey placed T. Daviesii and 

T. virgatula in Callithamnion. But cystocarps and antheridia are wanting, and according to Thuret and 

Bornet, Areschoug, and Pringsheim, the spores are undivided, although, on the other hand, Agardh and 

Harvey state that they are tripartite tetraspores. We have never seen any indication of division in 

American specimens. The genus Chantransia as limited by Thuret included not only marine species, 

but a number of fresh-water forms. Sirodot, however, in his Étude sur la Famille des Lémanéacées, 

Annales des Sciences, 5th Series, Vol. XVI, has shown that at least some of the fresh-water species of 

Chantransia are nothing but the initial stage of different species of Lemaneæ. On the other hand, 

Chantransia investiens, Lenor., a minute fresh-water alga which grows on different species of 

Batrachospermum, and which is made the type of the genus Balbiania by Sirodot, has distinct 

antheridia, trichogynes, and cystocarps, and this is also the case with the marine species C. corymbifera 

described by Bornet and Thuret in Notes Algologiques. The species of Chantransia, then, may be 

divided into two sets. In the first, including C. investiens of fresh water and the marine C. corymbifera, 

we have autonomous species related to Callithamnion, and differing in the simpler procarp and 

cystocarp and in the undivided non-sexual spores. In the second set we have the numerous fresh-water 

Chantransiæ, in which there are no cystocarps, in which the species are not autonomous, but merely 

prothalloid stages of other species. 

The question remains as to the relations of the marine Chantransiæ in which no cystocarps nor 

antheridia have been found. Judging from analogy, if they are initial stages of other plants, those 

plants must be members of the Nemalieæ, But the habitat seems to forbid such an assumption, since 

the marine Chantransiæ abound on Zostera, Rhodymenia, and other algæ on which certainly no species 

of Nemalion or other related genera occur on our coast. We have thought best, in the absence of direct 

information with regard to cystocarps and antheridia in the species here included,


to retain the name Trentepohlia which was once adopted by Harvey, and at a later date also by 

Pringsheim, since it sufficiently indicates that the species in question should be kept distinct from 

Callithamnion, and at the same time does not assume the existence of cystocarps like those described 

by Thuret and Bornet in C. corymbifera. 

T. VIRGATULA, (Harv.). (Callithamnion virgatulum, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 313; Ner. 

Am. Bor., Part II, p. 243.) Pl. X, Fig. 3. 

Fronds minute, tufted, branches erect, straight, alternate or secund; spores sessile 

or on short stalks, borne either singly or in twos and threes along the branches. 

Var. SECUNDATA. (Callithamnion luxurians, Ner. Am. Bor. — C. secundatum, 

Lyngb.) 

Branches patent, with attenuated, naked, secund, secondary branches. 

On Ceramium, Laminaria stems, and other algæ. The variety especially on Zostera. 

Common in Long Island Sound; Gloucester, Mass.; Peak’s Island, Maine. 

A common species found in summer on different algæ. On the filamentous species it forms small tufts, 

and on Zostera it fringes the margins of the leaves with a fine plush scarcely more than a quarter or 

half an inch high. The synonymy of the species is very complicated, it having been confused with the 

next by some writers. The variety is common on Zostera, and is usually found in American herbaria 

bearing the name of C. luxurians. There is little doubt that it is the C. luxurians of the Nereis Am. Bor., 

but whether it is the species described under that name by Agardh is doubtful. 

T. DAVIESII, Harv. (Conferva Daviesii, Engl. Bot., Pl. 2329.—Callithamnion Daviesii, 


Fronds minute, tufted, branches scattered, patent, bearing in their axils fasciculated 

ramuli, at whose tips are borne the spores. 

On Rhodymenia. 

Gloucester, Mass. 

The limits of the species are not well marked. The extreme form is found in C. efflorescent, Thuret, kept 

as a distinct species by most writers, in which the branches are few, long, and given off at wide angles, 

and the spores borne in dense corymbs or heads in the axils. This form has been found on Cystoclonium 

purpurascens at Gay Head. 

Among the genera whose relations to the Florideæ must be considered doubtful are Choreocolax and Pseudoblaste, 

described by Reinsch in Contributiones ad Algologiam et Fungologiam. Of the last-named genus a single species, of 

the former five species, are attributed to the eastern coast of America. The species of Choreocolax consist merely of 

rose-colored filaments, which are parasitic in the fronds of different Florideæ, upon the surface of which they 

produce irregularly swollen masses, composed in part of the threads of the Choreocolax and in part of the distorted 

tissues of the host-plant. The species of Pseudoblaste consist of aggregations of cells arranged in longitudinal series, 

which form hemispherical masses on the surface of different Florideæ. In neither genus is any form of reproduction 

known, and, for this reason, the descriptions of Reinsch must be regarded as inadequate, since it by no means 

follows that plants consisting of rose-colored filaments belong to the Florideæ. One often finds on our coast Florideæ 

whose

110 


Suborder PORPHYREÆ. 

Fronds brownish purple, composed of cells imbedded in a gelatinous net-work, 

arranged in filaments or in membranes formed of a single layer of cells; spores 

formed by the division of a mother-cell into eight cells, arranged by fours in two 

layers; antherozoids spherical, colorless, destitute of proper motion, formed by 

division of a mother-cell into 32-64 parts. 

The present suborder comprises the genera Porphyra and Bangia, and perhaps also Erythrotrichia and 

Gonotrichum. In Porphyra the frond consists of a single layer of cells, of which those near the base send 

down wards root-like appendages, by means of which the fronds are attached to the substratum. The 

spores are formed at the marginal portion of the frond by the division of the vegetative cells, at first 

into two cells by a vertical partition, and the subsequent division of the two cells into four by cruciate 

partitions. Thus, when mature and seen from above, the eight spores seem to be arranged in two 

superimposed series of four. The spores escape by the dissolution of the outer part of the frond, leaving 

behind the empty gelatinous net-work. When free they are found to consist of protoplasm without a 

cellulose wall, and they move about for a short time with an amoeboid motion. The antherozoids are 

also formed by the division of the vegetative cells, but the division is carried farther than in the 

production of the spores, for, in addition to the vertical and cruciate partitions described in the latter 

case, a second vertical and cruciate division takes place, so that the original vegetative cell is divided 

into 32-64 cells. Janczewski applies the name antheridium to the collective mass of antherozoids 

formed from a single vegetative cell. As the division takes place the antherozoids lose their color. When 

mature they are spherical and escape in a manner similar to that of the spores. Bornet and Janczewski 

state that the antherozoids are destitute of any proper motion, and we can confirm 

fronds are distorted by parasites, which produce deformities like those described by Reinsch as due to species of 

Choreocolax. Such distortions are perhaps most frequently found on Cystoclonium purpurascens. In our present 

ignorance of the fructification, specific identification is out of the question, and, in this connection, it is only 

necessary to quote the generic descriptions of Reinsch, l. c., with an enumeration of the species attributed to our 

coast: 

CHOREOCOLAX. True vegetable parasites; fronds consisting of two portions, one of which extends through the 

tissue of the infected plant, the other of which swells above the surface of the infected plant, forming a convex mass, 

which is hemispherical or spherical, semi-ellipsoidal or irregular in outline; the cells which are contained in the 

infected plant either more slender than the others or of the same shape, cells of external portion equal or unequal, 

arranged without order in densely intricate subramose threads, terminal cells sometimes longer and more slender; 

fructification?; polysporangia? C. RABENHORSTI. On Delesseria sinuosa, Anticosti; Gloucester, Mass. 

C. POLYSIPHONIÆ. On P. fastigiata, Atlantic shore of North America. 

C. MIRABILIS. On Rhodomela subfusca, Atlantic shore of North America. 

C. AMERICANUS. On Lophura Royana, &c., Atlantic shore of North America. 

C. TUMIDUS. On Ceramium involutum, West Gloucester, Mass. 

PSEUDOBLASTE. False vegetable parasites; frond convex, more or less regular in outline, formed of similarly 

shaped cells, generally arranged in longitudinal series, arising from a densely appressed base (the cells without any 

organic connection with the cells of the infected, plant); propagation? 

P. IRREGULARIS, On Lophura Royana, Atlantic coast of North America.


this statement by our own observations, although Koschtsug maintains the contrary. The genus 

Bangia, except that the cells composing the frond are arranged in cylindrical filaments instead of 

expanded membranes, differs in no essential respect from Porphyra and the production of spores and 

antherozoids is the same. 

The development and structure of the species of this order have formed the subject of a number of 

important papers, viz: Porphyra laciniata, in Études Phycologiques, by Bornet and Thuret; Études 

Anatomiques sur les Porphyra, by Janczewski, in Annales des Sciences, Ser. 5, Vol. XVII; and Ueber die 

Geschlechtspflanzen von Bangia fusco-purpurea, in Pringsheim’s Jahrbücher, Vol. II. In the Nereis. 

Am. Bor., Harvey placed Porphyra and Bangia with the Ulvaceæ, which they resemble in so far as they 

consist of simple membranes and filaments some of whose cells change directly into spores. The sporee 

[sic] of the Porphyreæ, however, are motionless bodies, not zoospores as in the Ulvaceæ, and their color 

is not green, but brownish red. The systematic position of the order has been in doubt, because, 

although there were well-known spores and bodies to which the name of antheridia was applied, no one 

had succeeded in detecting trichogynes and procarps, which must necessarily exist if the Porphyreæ are 

to be classed with the Florideæ. Dr. G. Berthold, however, has recently published in the Mittheilungen 

aus der zoologischen Station zu Neapel a communication in which he claims to have discovered 

trichogynes in species of Bangia and Porphyra. According to him, the cells produce short trichogynes to 

which the antherozoids adhere, and as a result the contents of the cell divide and produce the spores at 

once. In other words, the Porphyreæ are the simplest of the Florideæ; a vegetative cell produces a 

trichogyne and is itself the carpogenic cell from which the spores are formed. Dr. Berthold goes further 

and says that some of the spores are nonsexual and are true tetraspores, but his article is not 

accompanied by illustrations. Bornet, to a certain extent following Cohn, suggests a possible connection 

of the Florideæ with the Phycochromaceæ by means of the Porphyreæ. Admitting that Erythrotrichia 

and Goniotrichum are related to Porphyra and Bangia, we have in Goniotrichum algæ composed of 

rose-colored discoid al cells packed in a thick gelatinous tube, from which they escape much as in some 

of the Phycochromaceæ. 

PORPHYRA, Ag. 

(From πορφυρα [porphyra], a purple dye.) 

Fronds gelatinous, membranaceous, composed of a single layer of brownish-red cells, 

those near the base sending out root-like processes; spores borne near the margin of 

frond, eight arising from a single mother-cell; antheridia marginal, consisting of 32- 

64 spherical, colorless antherozoids. 

A small genus, the species of which are characterized by the relative position of the spores and 

antheridia and by the shape of the frond. Most of the species have been founded on variations in the 

outline of the frond, and recent writers agree in uniting many of the species of the older algologists. 

P. LACINIATA, Ag.—Laver. (P. linearis, Grev.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 211, Fig. 2.—P. 

vulgaris, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 211, Fig. 1.—P. laciniata, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 92; 

Études Phycol., Pl. 31.) 

Fronds three inches to a foot and a half long, persistent throughout the year, color 

livid purple, substance gelatinous but firm, at first linear, but becoming widely 

expanded and finally much lobed and laciniate; antheridia and spores forming a 

marginal zone, usually borne

112 


on different individuals, or when borne on the same individual not intermixed, but 

on separate portions of the frond. 

Common on stones near low-water mark. 

Found in all parts of the world. 

This common species abounds on rather smooth stones and pebbles, and when the tide falls covers 

them with slimy films, which make walking over them difficult. The shape of the fronds is very 

variable, but as generally found they are much folded and laciniate. The species is used for making 

soups in Europe, but is not used in this country, except by the Chinese, who import it from China, not 

knowing that it occurs abundantly on our own coast. P. leucosticta probably occurs in New England, but 

has not yet certainly been observed. It is a spring species, softer and brighter colored than P. laciniata, 

and the antheridia and spores are found on the same individual, forming spots within the margin 

rather than a marginal zone. 

BANGIA, Lyngb. 

(Named in honor of Niels Hofmann Bang, of Copenhagen.) 

Fronds gelatinous, simple, filamentous, cylindrical, densely tufted, composed below 

of a single row of cells, which, by repeated vertical division, become densely cellular 

above; antheridia and spores formed by transformation of the cells of the upper part 

of the filaments. 

A small genus, of which most of the species are marine, but some are found in fresh water. The species 

are not well characterized, for the differences in the length of the filaments, color, and number of cells 

seen in cross-section, marks upon which most writers have relied, depend to a great extent upon the 

age of the plant and its place of growth. 

B. FUSCO-PURPUREA, Lyngb.; Phyc. Brit, Pl. 96; Reinke, l. c.‚ Pls. 12, 13. 

Filaments blackish purple, two to six inches long, clustered in dense masses, 

lubricous; antheridia and spores usually on different individuals.On wharves and 

rocks between tide-marks. 

Rather common along the whole coast. 

Easily recognized by the fine, soft, dark-purple filaments, which cover rocks and wood work in patches 

of considerable size with a dense gelatinous fleece. Although found on wharves in sheltered localities, it 

also occurs on rocks exposed to the waves. 

ERYTHROTRICHIA, Aresch. 

(From ερυθρος [erythros], red, and τριχιον [trichion], a small hair.) 

Fronds rose-colored, simple, filamentous, composed of a single row of similar cells 

placed end to end; cell contents discharged in a spherical mass, which forms a spore. 

A small genus, whose principal representative, E. ceramicola, is by many writers placed in Bangia. As 

we understand the genus, it differs from Bangia in that there are no antheridia or tetraspores, the 

reproduction being accomplished by the discharge of the cell contents in a single mass or spore. If 

Bangia ciliaris of the Nereis, which


occurs at Charleston but is not known farther north, is also to be included in the present genus, then 

the definition given above will have to be modified so as to include plants having more than one row of 

cells, an extension of the genus apparently adopted by Thuret, but not originally adopted by Areschoug. 

E. CERAMICOLA, (Lyngb.) Aresch. (Bangia ceramicola, Chauvin; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 

317.—E. ceramicola, Le Jolis, Liste des Algues Marines de Cherbourg, Pl. 3, Figs. 1, 

2.) 

Filaments diffuse, forming a web or fringe on algæ, cells about as long as broad. 

On algæ, especially the smaller Florideæ, in tide-pools. Late summer and autumn. 

Gloucester, Mass., Mrs. Davis, Mrs. Cochrane; Peak’s Island, Maine, W. G. F.; 

Europe. 

In examining with the microscope the filamentous Florideæ one often meets with a few filaments of this 

species. It is not, however, common to find it in such abundance on the shore as to attract the eye of the 

collector who is not especially in search of it. It attains its full size in the month of September. 

? GONIOTRICHUM, Kütz. 

(From γωνια [gonia], an angle, and τριχιον [trichion], a small hair.) 

Fronds filamentous, branching, composed of rose-colored, disk-shaped cells, 

embedded in jelly. 

A genus composed of only two or three species. Kützing describes two species, but his limitation of them 

is not now kept by algologists. Zanardini describes and figures a G. cœrulescens, which is not red in any 

sense. The systematic position of the genus is very doubtful, and were it not for the color of the cells, G. 

elegans would probably be placed in the Nostochineæ. The only reproduction known consists in the 

escape of the cells from the gelatinous sheath and a division into two new cells, then into four, and so 

on until a new filament is formed. 

G. ELEGANS, Zanard. (Bangia elegans, Chauv.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 246.) Filaments about 

.02 mm in diameter; cells cuboidal or ovate, about .009-10 mm in diameter. 

On Dasya elegans. 

Cotuit Port, Mass., Mrs. J. T. Lusk; Europe. 

A small and rare plant, growing in tufts scarcely a tenth of an inch high. We have only one American 

specimen, collected by Mrs. Lusk, of Gloucester. The locality was incorrectly given in the List of the 

Marine Algæ of the United States, Proc. Am. Acad., 1875, the specimen not having been found by Mrs. 

Lusk at Gloucester, font at Cotuit, Mass. 

SUBORDER SQUAMARIEÆ. 

Fronds forming horizontally expanded crusts, usually membranaceous, occasionally 

somewhat incrusted with lime, composed of closely packed vertical filaments arising 

from a horizontal stratum of cells; fructification either in external protuberances 

composed of parallel filaments S. Miss. 59——8

114 


or immersed in the frond; antherozoids formed from the cells of the protuberances or 

the superficial cells of the frond; cystocarps composed of few spores arranged end to 

end in a few rows, or in filaments which branch slightly; tetraspores zonate or 

cruciate, stalked or attached laterally to the filaments of the frond or protuberances. 

A small order, more abundant in tropical seas than on our coast, comprising species which in habit 

resemble lichens rather than algæ. A few species, as Peyssonnelia squamaria and P. australis, attain a 

considerable size, and are distinctly foliaceous. The greater part of the species, however, form closely 

adherent crusts, which are sometimes more or less gelatinous and sometimes slightly calcareous. The 

structure of the fronds is simple. From a horizontal base, composed of a single layer or a few layers of 

cells, arise vertical filaments, which in some genera are densely united so as to form a parenchymatous 

frond, or in others are only slightly held together by a gelatinous intercellular substance. The 

fructification is found either in external raised spots or sunk in the frond. The antheridia are either 

formed directly from the cells of the filaments which constitute the protuberances or from the external 

cells of the fronds themselves. The tetraspores are either cruciate or zonate, and their position 

constitutes an important generic mark. The development of the systocarps is known in only a few 

species. In Peyssonnelia, according to Dr. Bornet, the procarp is formed from the cells of the filaments, 

which form the protuberances. The upper cell elongates and forms the trichogyne, and the fertilization 

consists merely in the change of the cells of the procarp into spores, thus constituting a very simple 

form of cystocarp, to which Zanardini has given the name of cystidie. According to Prof. Fr. Schmitz, in 

Cruoriopsis cruciata, Dufour, there are winding filaments like those described by Thuret and Bornet in 

Dudresnaya. We have but few Squamarieæ on our coast, and the study of the suborder cannot easily be 

pursued with us. 

PEYSSONNELIA, Decaisne. 

(Named in honor of J. A. Peyssonnel.) 

Fronds horizontally expanded, attached by the under surface; substance 

parenchymatous throughout; fructification in external convex protuberances 

(nemathecia) composed of slender parallel filaments, on which are borne the 

antheridia, cystocarps, and tetraspores; antherozoids produced in all the cells of the 

nemathecial filaments; tetraspores cruciate, oblong, sessile or shortly stalked; 

cystocarps composed of few spores, placed one over another in one or two rows or in 

short, branching filaments. 

A small genus, comprising probably not more than twelve or fifteen good species. P. squamaria, 

common in Southern Europe, is not known with us. It may be that several of the species described by 

Crouan in the Annales des Sciences and the Florule du Finistère occur with us; but it must be 

confessed that from the description given by Crouan it would be by no means an easy matter to 

recognize them. Those who have an opportunity for dredging on shelly bottoms at localities like Gay 

Head, Block Island, Montauk, or Eastport should make a careful search for species of the present 

genus.


P. DUBYI, Crouan; Phyc. Brit, Pl. 71; Florule du Finistère, Pl. 19, Fig. 130; Proc. Am. 

Acad. Arts & Sciences, 1877, p. 239. 

Fronds dark purple, thin, completely adherent to the substratum, somewhat 

calcareous beneath; cystocarpic spores few in number (4-6), arranged in one or two 

rows. 

On shells and stones at low-water mark and in deep water. 

Eastport, Maine; Magnolia, Mass.; Europe; California. 

As yet only found in a sterile condition, apparently not common. The species might possibly be 

mistaken for Petrocelis cruenta at first sight. It is, however, more decidedly reddish and thicker. Under 

the microscope the structure of the frond is seen to be parenchymatous throughout, while in Petrocelis 

the vertical filaments are nearly free from one another. P. imbricata, Kütz., Tab. Phyc., Pl. 90, from 

Newfoundland, is a doubtful species, which is not likely to be recognized by future botanists. 

PETROCELIS, J. Ag. 

(From πετρος [petros], a stone, and κηλις [kelis], a stain.) 

Fronds gelatino-coriaceous, horizontally expanded, indefinite in outline, adhering 

closely to the substratum, vertical filaments united below, but above rather loosely 

held together by a gelatinous substance; antheridia and cystocarps unknown; 

tetraspores spherical, cruciate, formed directly from some of the cells of the vertical 

filaments. 

A genus represented by a single species, which is widely diffused in the North Atlantic. At once 

recognized by the peculiar position of the cruciate tetraspores, which are in the continuity of the 

vertical filaments. There is usually only a single tetraspore in each filament, but Ruprecht, in 

Phycologia Ochotensis, figures a form in which several contiguous cells are transformed into 

tetraspores. 

P. CRUENTA, J. Ag. (Cruoria pellita, Harv., in Phyc. Brit., Pl. 117, non C. pellita, 

Lyngb.) Pl. 14, fig. 1. 

Covering rocks and stones near low-water mark with a dark purple, velvety stain. 

Common from Nahant northward; Europe. 

The present species often accompanies Hildenbrandtia rosea, from which it is distinguished at sight by 

its darker color and velvety gloss when moist. It is also decidedly thicker and more easily scraped from 

the rocks. The species is not yet known south of Cape Cod, but may be expected. The fronds of the 

present species are infested by a green unicellular parasite, which is frequently seen in the shape of 

ovoid sacks, drawn out at the lower end into a slender stalk amongst the vertical filaments. It is, in all 

probability, the parasite mentioned by Cohn, in Ueber einige Algen von Helgoland, as occurring in 

Cruoria pellita, to which, as far as we know, no name has as yet been given. 

HILDENBRANDTIA, Nardo. 

(Named in honor of Prof. Franz Edler Hildenbrandt, of Vienna.) 

Fronds crustaceous, without calcareous deposit, forming thin, reddish, horizontal 

expansions of indefinite extent, composed of cuboidal cells arranged in vertical lines 

and arising from a horizontal basal layer;

116 


tetraspores lining the walls of immersed conceptacles, zonate, cruciate, or 

irregularly placed; cystocarps unknown. 

A small genus, comprising half a dozen species, which form thin crusts on rocks and stones both in salt 

and fresh water. The systematic position of the genus is doubtful, and must remain so until the 

cystocarps are known. Since the tetraspores are borne in special conceptacles, the genus has been 

placed by some writers with the Corallineæ, although the species are not strictly calcareous. By others 

it is placed with the Squamarieæ. Antheridia are only known in H. rivularis, where they are said by 

Borzi to be long cylindrical cells formed from the superficial cells of the thallus, each cell containing a 

number of spherical antherozoids arranged one above another. 

H. ROSEA, Kütz. (H. rubra, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 250; Farlow, in Report of U. S. Fish 

Comm. for 1871.) 

Fronds thin, closely adherent to the substratum, cells of nearly the same size in all 

parts of the frond; conceptacles numerous, completely immersed, spherical; 

tetraspores either zonate or irregularly divided, lining the walls of the conceptacles 

and mixed with filiform, slender paraphyses. 

On stones and rocks near low-water mark. 

Everywhere common. 

One of our commonest species, which forms continuous thin crusts, often of considerable extent, tinging 

the rocks with a pinkish or somewhat brownish color; not easily mistaken for any other alga on our 

coast, except possibly young forms of Petrocelis, which is, however, thicker, more velvety in appearance, 

and darker in color. 

Suborder NEMALIEÆ. 

(Heminthocladieæ, Agardh & Harvey.) 

Fronds more or less gelatinous or occasionally coated with a calcareous deposit, 

filamentous, branching, formed of an axial portion composed of elongated 

longitudinal filaments, which give off short, corymbose, horizontal branches, which 

constitute the cortical portion; antheridia in tufts on the superficial cells; cystocarps 

immersed in the frond, borne on the peripheral filaments, composed of densely 

packed chains of spores radiating from a central cell, either without any proper 

envelope, or with a filamentous involucre or surrounded by a proper membranous 

pericarp; tetraspores? 

A comparatively small suborder, comprising species whose fronds, except in color, resemble the fronds 

of the Chordarieæ in the Phæosporeæ, since they consist of an axis composed of longitudinal filaments 

and a cortex of short, much-branched horizontal filaments. All our species are soft and somewhat 

gelatinous, but the species of Liagora, which abound in the tropics and are found in Southern Europe 

and in this country in Florida and California, have a more or less distinct coating of carbonate of lime. 

The procarps and cystocarps in this suborder are very simple. There are a few species belonging to the 

genus Batrachospermum which occur in fresh water. In that genus the formation of the cystocarps is 

very simple. The trichogyne and trichopore are represented by a single large cell, constircted [sic] near 

the base. After fertilization the chains of spores are formed directly from the part below the 

constriction. In


Nemalion the procarp consists of a short branch composed of a few cells, the upper of which enlarges 

and bears a hair-like trichogyne. The fruit in Nemalion has no special covering, but in Helminthora and 

Helminthocladia the lower cells of the procarp produce whorls of filaments which form an involucre 

around the spores, and in Scinaia they produce a membranous sack which opens at the apex, so that 

when ripe the fruit consists of a conceptacle opening outwards, at whose base is borne a tuft of spores 

arranged in filaments. With regard to the tetraspores in the present suborder, a difference of opinion 

exists. Contrary to what is found in other Florideæ, the cystocarpic individuals are common, whereas 

tetrasporic individuals are unknown except in Nemalion, in which genus, on the authority of Agardh, 

they are borne in the superficial cells and are tripartite. 

NEMALION, Duby. 

(From νηµα [nema], a thread.) 

Fronds gelatinous, cylindrical, solid, repeatedly dichotomous, cortical filaments 

corymbose, giving off descending branches, which unite with the axial filaments; 

antheridia in tufts on the superficial cells; procarps borne at the base of the 

corymbose branches, consisting of few cells; cystocarps immersed, without special 

covering, sporiferous filaments radiating from the trichophore; “tetraspores 

tripartite in the superficial” cells. (Agardh.) 

A small genus, comprising seven or eight species, only one of which, N. multifidum, is widely diffused. 

N. MULTIFIDUM, Ag., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 36. (Mesogloia multifida, Ag., Syst.) Pl. 12, Fig. 

1. 

Fronds brownish purple, lubricous, two to eight inches long, cylindrical, several 

times dichotomous, axils obtuse. 

On exposed rocks at low-water mark. Summer. 

From Watch Hill, R. I., northward; Europe. 

Not uncommon on rocks exposed to the action of the waves. Commonly found with cystocarps, but no 

tetraspores have been seen on American specimens. In the Nereis the species is said to have been 

collected at Bangor, Maine, by Mr. Hooper. This must be an error, however, since Bangor is on the 

Penobscot River, above the limit of salt water. Specimens of the present species are so gelatinous as to 

dry with difficulty. They should be exposed in the air for two or three hours before pressing. 

SCINAIA, Bivona. 

(In honor of Domenico Scina, of Palermo.) 

Fronds subgelatinous, dichotomous, cylindrical or compressed, axis small, composed 

of slender colorless filaments, horizontal filaments ending in short corymbs of small, 

round, colored cells, the centers of all the corymbs bearing large, colorless, 

cylindrical cells, which by their juxtaposition form an epidermis over the whole 

frond; antheridia in small tufts on the superficial cells; cystocarps borne just below 

the cortical layer, consisting of membranous sacks opening externally, with a tuft of 

spore-bearing filaments attached to the base; tetraspores unknown.

118 


A small genus, containing at the most only four or five species, of which S. furcellata is widely 

distributed. The genus is unmistakable on microscopic examination by the slender axis and large 

colorless cylindrical cells which cover the surface of the fronds, and by the peculiar cystocarps which 

are visible to the naked eye as dark red grains just under the surface. The species should be studied 

from living or alcoholic specimens, since, owing to the delicate substance, pressed specimens are badly 

distorted. 

S. FURCELLATA, Bivona. (Ginannia furcellata, Mont.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 69.—S. 

furcellata, Notes Algologiques, Pl. 6.) 

Fronds solitary or clustered, cylindrical, rising from a disk-like base, several times 

dichotomous, divisions regular, apices obtuse. 

On stones and shells in five to ten fathoms. 

Newport, R. I., Bailey; Gay Head, Mass., W. G. F. 

A rare species with us, but widely distributed throughout the world, being found in most warm seas. In 

size and regularity of its dichotomous branching it resembles Polyides rotundas, but is much more 

delicate in substance and brighter colored. With us it is only known at a considerable depth and in 

rather cold waters, but in the Mediterranean it is frequent in warm shallow waters. It is not uncommon 

on shells of Mytilus near the Devil’s Bridge, Vineyard Sound, Mass., and is found washed ashore in the 

neighboring beach of Gay Head. The Californian form of what is supposed to be the same species is 

much more robust, and the var. undulaa, [sic] which Montagne considered a distinctspecies [sic], is 

somewhat compresed [sic] and constricted at intervals. When pressed the specimens are quite flat and 

the axis is plainly seen, giving the appearance of a membranous frond with a midrib. 

SUBORDER SPERMOTHAMNIEÆ. 

Fronds filamentous, monosiphonous, branching; antheridia tufted; cystocarps 

involucrate, spores borne free on the surface of a lobulated mass produced by the 

carpogenic cells. 

In this suborder we would place Spermothamnion and Bornetia, separated from Callithamnion and 

Griffithsia, respectively, in consequence of the spores being borne free. 

SPERMOTHAMNION, Aresch. 

(From σπερµα [sperma], a seed, and θαµνιον [thamnion], a small bush.) 

Fronds tufted, composed of procumbent monosiphonous filaments attached to the 

substratum by disk-shaped cells and vertical branching filaments; antheridia sessile 

on the inner side of the branches, composed of oval or cylindrical masses of small 

cells; cystocarps terminal on the branches, surrounded by an involucre of short 

incurved branchlets, spores free from one another and not surrounded by a 

gelatinous envelope; tetraspores tripartite, single or aggregated, borne on the inner 

side of the branchlets. 

A small genus, comprising, as far as known, less than half a dozen species, separated from 

Callithamnion because the spores at maturity are borne free on the surface of a lobulated mass which 

arises from the development of the carpogenic cells, and not, as


in Callithamnion, held together by a gelatinous envelope. The trichophoric apparatus and the early 

stages of the development of the cystocarps, however, scarcely differ in the two genera. The species of 

Spermothamnion have been considered related to Wrangelia, but if we are to regard W. penicillata as 

the type of the last-named genus, as has been done by Thuret and Bornet in Notes Algologiques, the 

resemblance is not close. In spite of the fact that the fruit of Spermothamnion is not a true favella, 

there is little doubt that the genus should be placed in the Ceramieæ, near Callithamnion. The 

development of the genus has been very thoroughly studied and has formed the subject of several 

admirable papers, among which maybe mentioned Pringsheim’s account of S. roseolum, in his Beiträge 

zur Morphologie der Meeres-Algen; Nægeli on S. Turneri and hermaphroditum, in Beiträge zur 

Morphologie und Systematik der Ceramiaceæ; and Thuret and Bornet on Spermothamnion flabellatum, 

in Notes Algologiques. 

S. TURNERI, Aresch. (Callithamnion Turneri, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 179; Ner. Am. Bor., 

Part III, p. 241.—S. roseolum, Pringsh., l. c.?—Herpothamnion Turneri, Næg.) 

Fronds forming densely matted tufts, procumbent filaments branching, attached by 

disk-like cells, vertical filaments one to three inches high, simple or slightly 

branching, naked below, pinnate above with opposite or sometimes alternate 

spreading pinnate branches, ultimate branches long and slender, often ending in a 

hair; antheridia ovate or cylindrical, sessile on the upper side of the branches; 

cystocarps involucrate, terminal on the branches; tetraspores tripartite, borne on the 

upper side of the ramuli, either solitary and pedicellate or clustered and sessile on 

short fastigiate branches. 

Var. VARIABILE, Harv. 

Branches and branchlets alternate or secund. 

In very dense tufts on algæ at low-water mark or in deep water. 

Common in Long Island Sound; var. variabile, Boston, Dr. Durkee. 

A species which is often found washed ashore in dense globose tufts from our southern limit to 

Nantucket. At the latter locality it is often found in very large quantities washed from deep water by 

the surf on Siasconsett Beach. The filaments are delicate and of a pleasant lake color. North of Cape 

Cod the species is hardly known with certainty. Specimens collected at Noank, Conn., have both 

tetraspores and young cystocarps on the same individual, but we have never seen antheridia on 

American specimens. Our plant seems to be the same as that figured by Pringsheim under the name of 

S. roseolum, and also corresponds closely to the species of that name in Algæ Scandinavicæ, No. 83. It 

appears without doubt to be the C. Turneri of the Phycologia Britannica and the Nereis, but we are 

unable to say whether it is the true C. roseolum of Agardh. 

SUBORDER CERAMIEÆ. 

Fronds filamentous or compressed, either monosiphonous or with a more or less 

corticated monosiphonous axis; antheridia in sessile tufts or patches or in a series of 

whorls; cystocarps (favellæ) composed of spores arranged without order and 

surrounded by a gelatinous envelope, naked or involucrate.

120 


A large order of filamentous algæ, many of which are monosiphonous throughout, while others are 

corticated either throughout or partially. The position of the antheridia and tetraspores varies in the 

different species. The cystocarp is a favella, which is either naked or surrounded by an involucre 

arising from the cells below the carpogenic cells. In cases where the frond consists of an axis with dense 

whorls of branches the favellæ may be partly concealed but not really immersed in the frond. The order 

is tolerably distinct. The fronds resemble closely those of the Wrangelieæ, and on the other hand the 

order passes gradually into the Cryptonemieæ by the genera Gloiosiphonia, Calosiphonia, and 

Nemastoma, in which the fruit is properly a favella, but is immersed in the comparatively dense outer 

portion of the frond instead of being free as in the Ceramieæ. In fact, it is difficult to say in which 

suborder Gloiosiphonia should be placed. 

1. Tetraspores external, occupying the place of a branchlet or ultimate cell .... 3 

2. Tetraspores wholly or partly immersed, formed from the corticating cells .. 4 

3. Fronds filamentous, monosiphonous, or with a false cortex composed of descending filaments, 

favellæ naked or with only a rudiment ary involucre........... Callithamnion. 

Fronds filamentous, monosiphonous, dichotomous, favellæ involucrateGriffithsia. 

Fronds filamentous, branches densely whorled on the axis, favellæ involucrateHalurus. 

Fronds compressed, corticated, decompound-pinnate, favellæ involucratePtilota. 

4. Fronds filamentous, monosiphonous, cortications at the nodes and extending over the internodes 

.................................................................................................... Ceramium. 

CALLITHAMNION, Lyngb. 

(From καλλος [kallos], beauty, and θαµνιον [thamnion], a small shrub.) 

Fronds filamentous, branching, filaments either monosiphonous throughout or 

becoming corticated by the growth of descending, rhizoidal filaments; antheridia 

forming hemispherical or ellipsoidal tufts on the branches; cystocarps composed of 

irregular masses of roundish spores covered by a gelatinous envelope (favellæ); 

tetraspores tripartite, cruciate, or polysporic; seirospores present in some species. 

A large and beautiful genus, of which nearly 150 species have been described. Although the genus had 

been divided into a number of smaller genera, the number of species still retained in Callithamnion 

proper is large. Nægeli, in his paper on the Morphology of the Ceramiaceæ, divides Callithamnion into 

a number of genera and subgenera, but we have thought best to retain the genus in an extended sense, 

regarding Nægeli’s division as subgenera. Spermothamnion, included by Nægeli in Herpothamnium, 

has been separated because the cystocarpic fruit is not strictly a favella as in Callithamnion proper. 

Seirospora is still retained, although it is possible that it could safely be separated as a distinct genus. 

The frond in Callithamnion is composed, in the beginning, of rows of cells arranged in branching 

filaments. In the subgenus Rhodochorton, whose relative position is doubtful because the cystocarps 

have not yet been observed, there are procumbent filaments, from which arise vertical branching 

filaments. In the other


species of Callithamnion, as here understood, the procumbent filaments are wanting or imperfectly 

developed, and the erect filaments either remain throughout monosiphonous, that is composed of single 

rows of cells, or become corticated by the growth of descending filaments, which proceed either from the 

base of the branches or from the cells of the main filaments. The false cortication formed by the 

interlacing of these filaments is precisely analogous to what is found in some species of Ectocarpus and 

related genera. The filaments in Callithamnion are either all indeterminate in growth, or else, as in the 

subgenus Antithamnion, they are of two kinds; the main filaments being indefinite and the branches 

definite, so that we have indefinitely elongating stems clothed with short, definite branches, or, to use 

the expression of Nægeli, with leaves. The antheridia are generally in the form of short tufts of hyaline 

cells, situated on the upper branches. In the present genus it is not rare to find species in which 

antheridia, cystocarps, and tetraspores are borne on the same individuals, a union rarely to be seen in 

the Florideæ. The cystocarps are often binate, which is easily understood if one considers the structure 

of the procarp, which is formed as follows: One of the cells of the young branches enlarges and is then 

divided by partitions parallel to the length of the branch into a central or axial cell and a number of 

peripheral cells, generally four. One of the peripheral cells is then divided into an upper and one or 

more lower cells by a transverse partition, and the upper cell then loses its color and grows upwards 

into a very long trichogyne. The antherozoids unite with the tip of the trichogyne, and the fertilizing 

influence is propagated through the trichogyne and the cells at its base to the two lateral peripheral 

cells, which then enlarge and divide on opposite sides of the axis and form eventually a bipartite 

favella. The tetraspores are either tripartite or cruciate. In the subgenus Seirospora there is a form of 

non-sexual spore known as seirospores, in which at the extremity of the branches are formed tufts 

composed of chains of oval bodies, each one of which is capable of germinating. 

As is apt to be the case in a large genus, the species of Callithamnion are not well defined. Certain 

groups of species are distinct, but writers are not agreed as to the limits of the species in each group. By 

some a great many species are allowed which others regard as mere varieties. On our coast C. Baileyi, 

C. byssoideum, C. corymbosum, and perhaps others might be indefinitely split up, but we have 

preferred to adopt the opposite view. Within certain limits collectors may be expected to make out our 

species of Callithamnion, but it must often happen that forms are found which cannot with certainty be 

referred to any of the described species. That such forms are, as a rule, new species cannot be accepted, 

but botanists having large sets of species of the present genus soon become very liberal in the 

interpretation-of specific limitations. 

SUBGENUS RHODOCHORTON, Næg. 

Fronds composed of procumbent filaments, from which arise vertical monopodial 

filaments; cortications wanting; tetraspores cruciate. 

C. ROTHII, Lyngb. (Rhodochorton Rothii, Næg.—Thamnidium Rothii, Thuret, in Le 

Jolis’s Liste des Algues Marines de Cherbourg, Pl. 5, Figs. 1-2.—C. Rothii, Phyc. 

Brit., Pl. 120 b.) 

Fronds forming indefinite patches half an inch high, vertical filaments slender, 

naked below, bearing a few erect, appressed branches above, which become at the 

time of fructification congested and corymbose, bearing at their tips cruciate 

tetraspores; antheridia and cystocarps unknown. 

Forming dense velvety patches on rocks between tide-marks.

122 


Common from New York northward; California; Europe. 

A common species, especially frequenting the under surface of rocks and stones near low-water mark. It 

has not yet been found with us in fruit, but Californian specimens bear tetraspores. In Europe the time 

of fructification is the spring, and the species should be examined at that season on our own coast. 

Harvey states that the tetraspores are tripartite, but other writers—as Thuret, Agardh, and Nægeli— 

agree in asserting that they are cruciate. In Californian specimens the formation of the tetraspores is 

somewhat irregular, and although in most cases the cruciate division is plain enough, in others it 

seems to be rather tripartite. 

SUBGENUS ANTITHAMNION, Thuret. 

Branches opposite or whorled, without cortication; tetraspores cruciate. 

C. CRUCIATUM, Ag. (Antithamnion cruciatum, Næg.—C. cruciatum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 

164.) 

Fronds tufted, one or two inches high, main branches sparingly and irregularly 

branched, secondary branches short, borne in twos or fours just below the nodes, 

always regularly opposite, and when in twos the succeeding pairs at right angles to 

one another, below subdistant, at the apex densely approximate and corymbose, 

pinnate with erect, alternate, distichous branchlets; tetraspores cruciate, sessile, or 

shortly stalked at the base of the secondary branches. 

On wharves at low-water mark and on algæ in shallow water. 

Red Hook, N. Y., Harvey; Orient, L. I.; Noank, Conn.; Wood’s Holl and several 

localities in Vineyard Sound, W. G. F.; Europe. 

Not common, but, on the other hand, not rare south of Cape Cod. It is a small and not very beautiful 

species when growing, but rather pretty when pressed. It is distinguished from the following species by 

its small size and sparingly branched main branches and by its tetrastichous, not distichous, secondary 

branches, which are densely approximate at the tips, so that in dried specimens the plant is rather pale 

except at the tips. Cystocarps and antheridia have never been found on our coast. Crouan states that 

the cystocarps, which are rare, are large, rounded, and slightly lobed. The branches of the present 

species, as well on our own shore as in Europe, are beset with small cysts with oily contents—the 

Chytridium plumulæ of Cohn. The same parasite is also found on the branches of C. Pylaisæi and C. 

plumula on the New England coast. 

C. FLOCCOSUM, Ag. (C. floccosum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 81.—Pterothamnion floccosum, 

Næg.) 

Fronds three to six inches long, capillary, main branches irregularly and sparingly 

branched below, above with numerous alternate branches, which give the tips of the 

frond a rhombic-ovoid outline, clothed throughout with short, simple, opposite, 

distichous, subulate, secondary branches; tetraspores cruciate, sessile or on short 

stalks on the lower part of the secondary branches.


On submerged algæ. 

Eastport, Maine, W. G. F.; Portland, Maine, C. B. Fuller; Gloucester, Mass., Mrs. 

Bray and Mrs. Davis; South Boston, Dr. Durkee; Northern Europe. 

A beautiful and easily distinguished species, found only in the colder waters of the Atlantic, a variety 

occurring as far south as South Barbara, on the coast of California. It is apparently not uncommon in 

spring from Boston northward, sometimes occurring in company with C. Pylaisæi. It is rare, however, 

on the northern coast of Scotland. It is easily distinguished from its allies in this latitude by the simple, 

subulate, secondary branches with which the main branches are clothed throughout. 

C. PYLAISÆI, Mont. (Wrangelia Pylaisæi, Ag. Sp.—C. Pylaisæi, Ner. Am. Bor., Part 

II, Pl. 36 b.—Pterothamnion Pylaisæi, Næg.) 

Fronds three to six inches long, main branches alternately decompound, secondary 

branches short, rather stout, opposite, distichous, once or twice pinnate with short 

subulate ramuli; tetraspores cruciate, sessile on the ramuli; favellæ binate on the 

upper branches. 

On wharves and algæ below low-water mark. 

Orient, L. I., Miss Booth; Wood’s Holl, Mass.; and common from Nahant northward. 

A common species of the Atlantic coast from Boston northward, but much less abundant southward. It 

is found early in the spring on wharves and washed ashore with other algæ, but in the summer it is 

only seen in a dwarfed and battered condition. It is sometimes found in company with C. Americanum, 

and it is by no means beyond a doubt that the two species are really distinct. In C. Pylaisæi the 

filaments are more robust, and the cells themselves shorter and broader than in C. Americanum, the 

main branches are less decompound and spreading, and the apical branches are more erect and 

compact. It is, however, in the secondary branches that the difference is best seen. In C. Pylaisæi they 

are short and thick, and the ultimate divisions are broadly subulate. In C. Americanum they are long, 

slender, and flexuous. Those who have only seen the typical forms of the two species would scarcely 

believe that they were not very distinct species. The collector, however, especially on our northern 

coast, often finds transitions between the two. At the time the Nereis was written the cystocarpic fruit 

was unknown, and the species seemed to Agardh to belong rather to the genus Wrangelia. The fruit, 

which is not uncommon in the spring, is distinctly the same as in Callithamnion, and is a true favella. 

The antheridia differ from those of C. corymbosum and its allies. Instead of forming sessile, 

hemispherical tufts on the internodes of the branches, as in the last-named species, the antheridia of C. 

Pylaisæi are in the form of rather loosely branching tufts inserted at the nodes of the secondary 

branches, and occupy the position of the ultimate branches, reminding one somewhat of the antheridia 

of C. graniferum, Menegh., figured by Zanardini in Phycologia Adriatica, Pl. 11, or the figure of C. 

polyspermum in Phycologia Britannica. As far as our observations go, the antheridia and cystocarps of 

the present species are on different individuals. The color, when dried, is usually somewhat brownish, 

and decidedly less rose-colored than in C. Americanum. 

C. AMERICANUM, Harv., Nereis Am. Bor., Part II, p. 238, Pl. 36 a. (Pterothamnion 

Americanum, Næg.) 

Fronds three to six inches long, capillary, main branches alternately many times 

branched, ultimate divisions plumose, secondary branches

124 


rather long and slender, opposite, in twos or occasionally in fours, generally 

distichous, widely spreading, once or twice pinnate, ultimate divisions opposite or 

secund, long and slender; tetraspores cruciate, sessile on the upper side of the 

secondary branches; favellæ binate. 


On wharves and algæ below low-water mark. Spring. 

From New Jersey northward. 

A common and very beautiful species, more abundant in Long Island Sound than farther northward. It 

varies considerably in the compactness of the branching and the tenuity of the cells. The species with 

which it is likely to be confounded is C. Pylaisæi, as already indicated. The long and slender secondary 

branches are less regularly placed than in some other species of the subgenus, and they are not always 

distichous nor opposite, although that is generally the case. We have also seen a specimen on which 

both tetraspores and cystocarps were found together. 

C. PLUMULA, Lyngb., Phyc. Brit, Pl. 242. 

Fronds two to four inches long, main branches alternately decompound, secondary 

branches opposite or in fours, distichous, short, recurved, pectinate on the upper side 

with 1-3 pinnated branchlets; tetraspores cruciate, shortly pedicellate on the 

branches. 

On wharves and on shells in deep water. 

Long Branch, N. J., Harvey; Orient, L. I., Miss Booth; on steamboat wharf, Newport, 

R. I.; dredged in 8-10 fathoms, Gay Head, W. G. F.; off Block Island, Professor Eaton. 

A rare species on the American coast, and known in but few localities. It is found occasionally on 

wharves just below low-water mark, but more frequently on shells in from five to ten fathoms. It is 

tolerably abundant off the Devil’s Bridge, near Gay Head, where it is found in company with 

Lomentaria rosea. It is one of the most easily recognized species of the genus found on our coast. The 

branches are beautifully symmetrical and distichous, two opposite branches being given off from each 

cell, or occasionally there are four in a whorl, two being smaller than the others. The branches are 

recurved and furnished on the upper side only with 1-3 pinnate branchlets. 

SUBGENUS PLEONOSPORIUM, Næg. 

Fronds erect, pinnate, cortication wanting; antheridia cylindrical on the upper 

branches; favellæ terminal, involucrate; tetraspores polysporic. 

C. BORRERI, Ag., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 159. 

Fronds diœcious, densely tufted, monosiphonous, with a few rhizoidal filaments at 

the base, filaments one to four inches long, capillary, main branches several times 

pinnate, branches beset in lower part with usually simple, elongated branchlets, 

distichously pinnate above, ultimate ramifications broadly ovate or triangular in 

outline, branchlets naked below; antheridia cylindrical; tetraspores sessile on the 

upper


branchlets, numerous, tripartite or polysporic; favellæ terminal on lateral branches, 

usually composed of several distinct lobes, furnished with an involucre by the 

growth of a few incurved accessory branches below. 

On wharves and Fuci. 

New York, Harvey; New Haven, Professor Eaton; Newport; New Bedford; Wood’s 

Holl; Europe. 

Apparently rather a common species, especially on wharves and Fuci at low-water mark. The species is 

easily recognized, when in fruit, by the polysporic tetraspores and by the favellæ, which are terminal, 

not lateral, as in the rest of our species, and have a sort of involucre formed by the growth of accessory 

ramuli from the cells just below the favellæ. When sterile the species may be recognized by the regular, 

broadly pinnate tips, at the end of nearly naked branches. We have found both polyspores and favellæ 

on American specimens; and in spite of the fact that our plants are always more slender than European 

forms of the species, there can be almost no doubt that we have the true C. Borreri. Whether all the 

sterile forms referred by American botanists to C. Borreri are correctly determined is doubtful. Some 

perhaps belong rather to C. roseum. The present species is placed by Bornet in the genus Corynospora, 

because of the terminal and involcurate [sic?] favellæ and polysporic tetraspores. As writers differ 

about the limits of Corynospora, we have kept the species in Callithamnion, although in some respects 

it differs from the rest of the genus, and the young stages of the cystocarps remind one strongly of 

Spermothamnion. The fruit is, however, a true favella. The number of spores in the polyspores in 

American specimens rarely exceeds 8 or 10, whereas Nægeli puts the number as high as 20-28 in 

European specimens. As usually found in early summer, the species is small and delicate, but later it 

becomes coarse. Specimens collected as late as possible in the autumn are to be desired, and the 

number of spores in a polyspore should be ascertained more definitely. In Contributiones ad Algologiam 

et Fungologiam, p. 44, Pl. 23, Fig. 1, Reinsch describes and figures a Callithamnion Labradorense, 

which is said to have poly-spores—whether a polysporic condition of C. floccosum or not can hardly be 

determined from the description. 

SUBGENUS EUCALLITHAMNION. 

Fronds erect, cortications generally present; antheridia in tufts, either on the nodes 

or internodes of the branchlets; tetraspores tripartite; favellæ usually binate, lateral. 

Sect. I. PENNATÆ. 

Growth monopodial, fronds distichously pinnate, pinnæ alternate, cortications 

rudimentary or wanting. 

C. ROSEUM, (Roth), Harvey. (C. roseum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 230.—Phlebothamnion 

roseum, Kütz. 

Fronds capillary, two to four inches high, filaments diffusely branched below, main 

branches slightly corticated, secondary branches long, flexuous, distichously 

pinnate, pinnæ crowded at the ends of the branches, long, spreading or slightly 

incurved; antheridia in tufts on the nodes of the branchlets; tetraspores tripartite, 

sessile on the branchlets; favellæ binate on the upper branches.

126 


New York Harbor, Mr. A. R. Young; Wood’s Holl, Mass. 

There must remain some doubt as to the correct determination of American specimens of the present 

species in the absence of fruit of any kind. Sterile specimens of C. roseum are likely to be mistaken for 

varieties of C. polyspermum or C. Borreri. In C. polyspermum the pinnæ are short and subequal, so that 

the outline of the tips of the branches is linear or oblong, while in C. roseum the pinnæ, which are 

crowded at the ends of the branches are long, gradually diminishing in size towards the apex, so that 

the plumose tips are pyramidal or broadly ovate in. outline. The filaments of C. roseum are finer and 

more nearly rose-colored than those of C. Borreri, and the pinnæ are less regularly distichous. 

Furthermore, there are no polyspores in C. roseum, and the favellæ are not terminal and 

subinvolucrate as in C. Barren. All three of the species above named are distinct from the species of the 

following group in their distichously pinnate ramification, and all three are reddish, inclining to a 

brownish color. They collapse when removed from the water, but are hardly gelatinous, although all 

adhere well to paper in drying. 

C. POLYSPERMUM, Ag. (C. polyspermum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 231.—Phlebothamnion 

polyspermum, Kütz.) 

Fronds capillary, cortications wanting, two to three inches high, main branches 

irregularly divided, with few secondary branches below, distichously pinnate above, 

branches linear or oblong in outline, simply pinnate, pinnæ alternate, short, 

subequal, incurved, upper pinnæ sometimes pinnulate; tetraspores tripartite, sessile 

on the upper side of branchlets; favellæ binate near the ends of the branches. 

Hell Gate, N. Y.; Jackson Ferry, Harvey; Europe. 

The only localities for this species within our limits are the two given by Harvey. We have seen 

Californian specimens collected by Mr. Cleveland near San Diego, but have never found the plant on 

the New England coast. The species is related to C. roseum and is distinguished from it by the short, 

subequal ultimate branches. 

Sect. II. FRUTICOSA. 

Growth sympodial, main axis and branches densely corticated: branchlets pectinate 

or pinnate, ultimate divisions alternate or secund. 

C. TETRAGONUM, Ag. (C. tetagonum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 136.—C. brachiatum, Harv., l. c., 

Pl. 13.—Dorythamnion tetragonum, Næg.) 

Fronds monœcious, two to six inches high, coarse and spongy, shrub-like, pyramidal 

in outline, color dark purple, main filaments densely corticated, smaller filaments 

monosiphonous; main axis percurrent, attached by a disk, pinnate with long, 

undivided, alternate branches, which are once or twice pinnate, the ultimate 

divisions beset on all sides with short, stout, incurved, acutely pointed, fasciculate 

branchlets; cells stout, not much longer than broad; antheridia in tufts on the upper 

internodes; tetraspores tripartite, sessile on the upper branchlets; favellæ binate. 

Common on stones and algæ below low-water mark. 

Long Island Sound; Europe.


Our most robust and coarsest species, not uncommon in Long Island Sound, but not yet recorded north 

of Cape Cod. The color is dark, and in the water almost black, and the substance is rather spongy, the 

plant not collapsing when removed from the water, as do most of the New England species of the genus. 

C. BAILEYI, Harv. (C. Baileyi, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, Pl. 35 b.— 

Dorythamnion Baileyi, Næg.) Pl. XI, Figs. 1-2. 

Fronds monœcious, two to four inches high, setaceous, shrub-like, pyramidal in 

outline, color purplish red, main filaments densely corticated, the rest 

monosiphonous; main axis percurrent, attached by a disk, pinnate with long, 

undivided, alternate branches, which are once or twice pinnate, the ultimate 

divisions beset on all sides with rather slender, flexuous, recurved or incurved, 

fasciculate branches; cells several times longer than broad; tetraspores tripartite, 

sessile on the upper branchlets; antheridia in tufts on the upper internodes; favellæ 

binate. 

Var. LAXA. 

Cortications less marked than in the type, branchlets long and slender, divisions 

widely spreading below, fastigiate at the apex. 

On Zostera, stones, sponges, and algæ below low-water mark. 

Common from New Jersey to Cape Cod; Boston Bay, Harvey; Portland, C. B. Fuller. 

As is suggested by Harvey in the Nereis Am. Bor., the present species is not only very variable in habit, 

but it is also difficult to distinguish some of the forms from C. tetragonum. We are inclined to believe 

that it would be better to consider the present species as a delicate form of C. tetragonum, in which the 

cells are longer and more slender, the branchlets less dense and robust, the color less inclined to 

blackish, and the substance more delicate. If we are to unite Rhodomela subfusca, R. gracilis, and R. 

Rochei in one species, as has been done by Agardh, with good reason as it seems, it would be equally 

correct to unite C. Baileyi and C. tetragonum, since the difference in habit might result from variations 

of habitat and season. With us, the form here referred to the typical C. Baileyi is more common than C. 

tetragonum, and is found on wharves, on Zostera, shells, and stones in rather warm waters and 

sheltered places, while C. tetragonum frequents places where there is a current of water, or grows on 

algæ in somewhat exposed pools. The var. laxa has a diffuse ramification and the Cortications are not 

prominent, and we at one time supposed that it might be the C. Dietziæ of the Nereis, as far as we could 

recollect the specimens of that species in the Harveyan Herbarium at Dublin. In such cases, however, it 

is not safe to trust to one’s memory, and in the present article we are unwilling to express an opinion 

about C. Dietziæ. 

Sect. III. BYSSOIDÆ. 

Branching monopodial or dichotomous. Cortications present at the base, ultimate 

branches decompound, very delicate, usually ending in a hyaline hair. 

C. BYSSOIDEUM, Arn. (C. byssoideum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 262.—Phlebothamnion 

byssoides, Kütz.—Pæcilothamnion byssoideum, Næg.)

128 


Fronds globosely tufted, One to three inches high, filaments very delicate, slightly 

corticated at base, main branches many times divided, secondary branches long and 

flexuous, pinnate with numerous pinnately compound branchlets; antheridia sessile 

in tufts at the nodes of the branchlets; tetraspores tripartite, sessile on the upper 

side of branchlets; favellæ binate on the upper branches. 

Var. UNILATERALE, Harv. 

Fronds small and very delicate, branches and branchlets often secund. 

Var. FASTIGIATUM, Harv. 

Branches fastigiate, the lesser ones densely ramulose at the tips. 

Var. WALTERSII, Harv. 

Upper branches distichously compound-pinnate, branchlets patent. 

On Zostera and different algæ. 

Common in Long Island Sound; Gloucester, Mass. 

The forms which have been referred on our coast to C. byssoideum and C. corymbosum are hopelessly 

confused. Although as described by algologists the two species are sufficiently distinct, in practice it is 

difficult to say where one begins and the other ends. According to the books, the ramification of the 

upper branches is dichotomous in C. corymbosum, whereas it is always alternately pinnate in C. 

byssoideum. In some of the forms of the last-named species, however, the tips are corymbose and the 

cells of the axis are short and zigzag to such a degree that the tips at least appear to be dichotomous. Of 

the two species in question, C. corymbosum is the less delicate and gelatinous, and is not so decidedly 

rose colored as C. byssoideum, but, as far as our present information goes, although in its typical form 

C. byssoideum is not only common—apparently more common than in Europe—but also easily 

recognizable, its extreme forms are not sufficiently well known. The Kützingian method would be to 

split the species up into four or five new species. According to Crouan and Bornet, this species has 

seirospores. 

C. CORYMBOSUM, (Engl. Bot.) Lyngb. (C. corymbosum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 272; Études 

Phycol., Pls. 32-35.—Pœcilothammion corymbosum, Næg.) 

Fronds tufted, two to three inches high; filaments very delicate, cortications 

wanting except at base, main branches several times pinnately or irregularly 

divided, secondary branches pinnate with dichotomously-multifid, fastigiate 

branches which end in hyaline hairs; tetraspores tripartite sessile at the nodes of the 

branchlets, occupying the place of an ultimate branchlet; antheridia in tufts, sessile 

on the upper internodes; favellæ binate on the upper part of the branches. 

Var. SECUNDATUM, Harv. 

Lesser branches frequently secund, ultimate branchlets irregular, scarcely 

corymbose. 

On Zostera. 

Halifax, Boston Bay, New London, Providence, Harvey. The var. secundatum, 

Massachusetts Bay, Greenport, Harvey.


We have only quoted the localities given by Harvey, although we have found what we take to be C. 

corymbosum at Newport, Wood’s Holl, and in considerable abundance at Nahant, always growing on 

Zostera. An examination of the different published exsiccatæ of European writers would lead one to 

think that several different species had been included under the name of C. corymbosum. One might 

doubt whether the form of Crouan, No. 139, and Areschoug, No. 15, belong to the same species. At 

Nahant the same form occurs as that distributed by French algologists. 

C. DIETZIÆ, Hooper. 

“Fronds capillary, pellucidly-articulate nearly to the base, the lower part percurrent, 

distichously-pinnate, stem veiny, branches alternate, simple, set at each node with 

short, alternate, subsimple or pinnato-dichotomous plumules, and often terminated 

by a dense fascicle of ramuli, rachides zigzag; articulations of the stem six or eight 

times, of the rachides three or four times, of the ramuli eight or ten times as long as 

broad; apices subattenuate, obtuse, or subacute; tetraspores elliptical, tripartite, 

solitary on the uppermost ramuli. “(Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, p. 236.) 

Greenport, Mrs. Dietz. 

Only known through the description given by Harvey in the Nereis. Harvey states that it is related to 

C. corymbosum and C. versicolor. The specimens referred to Wood’s Holl in Proc. Am. Acad., 1875, p. 

376, were probably incorrectly determined. 

SUBGENUS SEIROSPORA, Harv. 

Fronds erect, main branches corticated; antheridia in tufts on the outer side of short 

branches; tetraspores tripartite; bispores and seirospores present; cystocarps 

destitute of enveloping jelly. 

C. SEIROSPERMUM, Griff. (Seirospora Griffithsiana, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 21.— 

Phlebothamnion seirospermum, Kütz.—C. versicolor, var. seirospermum, Harv., in 

Hooker’s Journ. Bot.; Pæcilothammon seirospermum, Næg.) 

Fronds diœcious, capillary, two to six inches high, pyramidal in outline, main axis 

percurrent, pinnate with alternate, undivided, lateral, branches, which bear 

secondary branches beset with delicate, erect, dichotomo-multified, corymbose 

branches, main branches corticated, smaller branches monosiphonous and byssoid; 

antheridia in tufts on the outside of short branchlets; tetraspores tripartite, sessile 

on the upper branchlets, sometimes replaced by bispores; seirospores oval, in 

moniliform tufts at the ends of the branches; cystocarps composed of radiating 

chains of spores without gelatinous envelope (Bornet.) 

On Zostera, shells, and stones below low-water mark. 

Common throughout Long Island Sound; Salem, Mass., Harvey. 

S. Miss. 59——9

130 


One of the commonest and most beautiful of the genus south of Cape Cod, but only known in one 

locality north of the Cape. It is often brought up on fishermen’s nets, and, as a rule, inhabits deeper 

water than most of the genus. It often attains the height of four or five inches, and is broadly pyramidal 

in outline. The main branches are rather stout and distinctly corticated, but the ultimate ramifications 

are very soft and flaccid. With us seirosporic specimens are very common, making the species easily 

distinguishable, but no form of tetraspore or bispore has been observed on American specimens. 

According to Bornet, tetraspores, bispores, and seirospores sometimes occur on the same individual. 

From a comparison of our plant with authentic European specimens there can be no doubt of the 

specific identity of the two. Accepting the account of the cystocarps given by Bornet, it is extremely 

doubtful whether the species should be kept in the present genus, and perhaps the genus Seirospora 

should be restored, not, however, as originally adopted by Harvey. 

SPECIES INQUIRENDÆ. 

C. TENUE, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, p. 130. (Griffithsia tenuis, Ag.) 

Filaments tufted, ultra-capillary, irregularly much branched, diffuse, flexuous, the 

branches and their divisions very generally secund, springing from the middle of the 

internodes; ramuli few and distant, patent, filiform, beset toward the attenuated 

apices with whorls of minute byssoid fibers; articulations cylindrical, those of the 

branches 4-6 times, those of the ramuli 3-4 times as long as broad, and gradually 

shorter towards the extremities. 

Beesley’s Point, N. J., Harvey. 

Two specimens which can probably be referred to the present species have been received from 

Nantucket, one presented by Mrs. Lusk, the other by Mr. Collins. In the absence of fruit the genus 

cannot be determined. Nægeli, in Beitrage zur Morphologie und Systematik der Ceramiceæ, says that 

the tetraspores are terminal on a single-celled pedicel. According to Harvey, the species is distinguished 

by the branches, which are all given off from the middle of the internodes of the branches of the 

preceding grade, Nægeli says that this species has normal branches like those of Griffithsia barbata, 

and he regards those given off from the internodes as adventive branches. 

C. TOCWOTTONIENSIS, Harv. MSS., fide Bailey. 

Providence, Bailey; Warwick, Hunt. 

As far as we know, this species, mentioned by S. T. Olney in his List of Rhode Island Plants, 

fortunately for pointers and the throats of American algologists, has never been described. 

GRIFFITHSIA, Ag. 

(Named in honor of Mrs. Griffiths, of Torquay.) 

Fronds filiform, monosiphonous, without cortications, dichotomously branching, 

branches of two kinds, the vegetative of indeterminate, the fructiferous of 

determinate growth; antheridia sessile and covering the upper surface of the 

terminal cells in tufted whorls at the nodes, or in densely whorled pyramidal tufts 

on involucrate branches; tetraspores


tripartite, clustered in involucrate whorls at the nodes or on the inner side of short 

fascicled branches; cystocarps (favellæ) involucrate. 

A beautiful genus, comprising between 30 and 40 species, but only represented on our Eastern coast by 

a single species and on the Western coast by two doubtfully determined species. The genus is 

distinguished from Callithamnion by the involucrate favellæ and by the disposition of the tetraspores. 

As we have Spermothamnion separated from Callithamnion in consequence of the absence of the 

gelatinous envelope found in true favellæ, so we have Bornetia separated in a similar way from 

Griffithsia. The genus can generally be recognized at sight by the rather large but very delicate 

cylindrical, oval, or, at times, globose cells, which do not bear immersion in fresh water even for a short 

time, and by the branching, which is dichotomous or a modification of the dichotomous type. The 

accurate specific determination from sterile specimens alone is generally impossible, so great is the 

resemblance of the fronds in the different species. The antheridia vary very much in the different 

species. In our only species they are sessile on the upper half of the globose terminal cells; in G. 

corallina they surround the nodes in tufts; and in G. setacea they are in dense approximate whorls, 

attached to the inner side of incurved branchlets. The tetraspores also vary in the different species. In 

G. Bornetiana and G. corallina they are in whorls at the nodes, and are attached to the inner side of 

short simple branches, which form a whorl around the node. In G. setacea the tetraspores occupy a 

position which corresponds to that of the antheridia. The favellæ are always truly involucrate and, as 

far as is known, terminal, in our species occupying the place of a suppressed dichotomy. The 

development of the procarp of C. corallina has been fully studied by Janczewski. In that species he 

found two trichogynes to each carpogenic system, as is also the case in the genus Ceramium. A nonsexual 

mode of propagation, by means of cells which give off root-like processes, has been described by 

Janczewski in G. corallina, and a similar process takes place in G. Bornetiana. 

G. BORNETIANA, Farlow. (G. corallina ? Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, p. 228, non 

Agardh.— G. globulifera, Kütz., Tab. Phyc., Vol. XII, Pl. 30.—G. globifera, J. Ag. in 

part.—G. Bornetiana, Proc. Am. Acad., 1877.) 


Fronds diœcious and dimorphous. 

MALE PLANT.—Globosely tufted, one to three inches high; filaments repeatedly 

dichotomous; lower cells cylindrical-obovoid, several times longer than broad, 

becoming shorter and broader above; terminal cells globose-pyriform; antheridia 

sessile, densely covering the upper half of terminal cell. Pl. X, Fig. 4. 

FEMALE PLANT.—Two to five inches high, loosely tufted, filaments repeatedly 

dichotomous; lower cells cylindrical-obovoid, becoming broadly pyriform above and 

then gradually diminishing in size toward the tip; favellæ solitary on the upper part 

of the superior cells; cells of involucre 10-20, unicellular, club-shaped, somewhat 

incurved. Pl. XI, Fig. 3. 

TETRASPORIC PLANT.—More slender than the female plant; tetraspores tripartite, 

densely clustered around the nodes of special branches; cells of involucre short and 

suberect. Pl. X, Fig. 5. 

On wharves, sponges, shells, and occasionally on Zostera.

132 


Common from Nantucket southward. 

A summer plant which attains perfection during the month of July, disappearing later in the summer. 

It is sometimes found washed ashore in large quantities after a storm. The species has been known for 

some time, but until recently it has passed for a form of G. corallina, a species common in Europe. It 

differs from that species in several respects. The antheridia form a sort of cap over the top of the 

terminal cells of the male plant, which is considerably smaller than the female plant and has a 

different habit, in consequence of which it was called a variety, var. globifera, by Harvey. The female 

and tetrasporic plants more closely resemble the true G. corallina. They do not end in large globose 

cells, as in the male plant, but the largest cells are below the tip, which is tapering and acute. When the 

tetrasporic plant has narrower and more acute cells than usual it constitutes the var. tenuis of the 

Nereis. The slenderest specimens, however, are usually sterile. In the structure of the procarp this 

species differs considerably from G. corallina as described by Janczewski. There is only one trichogyne 

instead of two, as in the last-named species. The procarp begins by the growth of a hemispherical cell at 

the upper part of an articulation. The cell is then divided into two parts by a partition parallel to the 

base. It is from the lower cell thus formed that the involucre is formed, and from the upper arise the 

carpogenic cells in the following way: By usually four oblique partitions there are formed four external 

hemispherical cells and a central pyramidal cell with a broad base. By subsequent division of one of the 

hemispherical cells, generally of the one lying nearest the axis of the plant, there is cut off a cell which 

divides into three smaller granular cells, the upper of which grows into a trichogyne. The spores are 

formed by the subsequent growth of the other three hemispherical cells. There are two sets of hair-like 

organs which arise from the upper border of the cells in this species; one set is short and granular, 

consisting of a cuboidal basal cell with short corymbose filaments; the other set occupies a similar 

position, but the hairs are long and hyaline, consisting of a long basal cell, which bears at its apex a 

whorl of three or more cells, which in turn bear other whorls, the whole hair being several times 

compound. 

HALURUS, Kütz. 

(From αλς [als], salt, and ουρα [oura], a tail.) 

Fronds monosiphonous, branching, beset throughout with short, approximate, 

incurved, di-trichotomous, whorled, secondary branches; tetraspores tripartite, 

attached to the inner side of special branches, arranged in whorls one above another; 

antheridia in similar position, forming closely verticillate tufts; favellæ terminal on 

short branches. 

A genus composed of one, or according to some writers two, species, separated from Griffithsia 

principally by the character of the frond. 

H. EQUISETIFOLIUS, Kütz. (Griffithsia equisetifolia, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 67.) 

Fronds four to eight inches long, arising from a disk, irregularly branching, 

secondary branches trichotomous below, dichotomous above, much incurved, densely 

covering the branches, rhizoidal descending filaments given off from some of the 

lower branches. 

Brooklyn, N.Y.? 

A plant resembling a Cladostephus, except that its color is a dirty red. The species is very doubtfully 

known on our coast. It is mentioned in the Nereis as having been sent to Harvey by Mr. Hooper, of 

Brooklyn, but there is no definite information as to the locality where the plant was collected.


PTILOTA, Ag. 

(From πτιλωτος [ptilotos], feathered.) 

Fronds compressed, ancipital, decompound, branches distichous, pectinate-pinnate, 

composed of a monosiphonous pinnate axis of larger quadrate cells and a cortex of 

smaller cells; antheridia terminal on short corymbose branches; tetraspores 

tripartite; cystocarps (favellæ) terminal on the branches, usually involucrate. 

An easily recognized genus, comprising about twenty species, of a deep red or reddish-brown color, only 

scantily represented on our coast, but represented on the Californian coast by a number of beautiful 

species. The genus reaches its greatest development in Australia. The growth is by an apical cell, from 

which arises a monosiphonous axis of indefinite growth and short secondary branches. The origin of 

the. cortications has been fully explained by Nægeli in Die neuern Algensysteme, page 206. The 

monosiphonous axis is clearly seen on holding specimens up to the light, and is also visible at the 

growing tips where the cortications are wanting. The cortications do not form a true solid tissue, but 

rather, as shown by Nægeli, densely interwoven branching filaments. A detailed account of the 

development of the frond in different species is given by Cramer in Physiologisch-systematische 

Untersuchungen über die Ceramiaceen. The development of the procarp is given by Bornet in Notes 

Algologiques, page 15. The position of the tetraspores is variable, and serves as a specific mark. 

P. ELEGANS, Bonnem. (Ptilota sericea, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 191.—P. plumosa, var. 

tenuissima, Ag.) 

Fronds brownish red, three to six inches high, main branches filiform, irregularly 

branching, secondary branches compressed, closely pinnate, with opposite pinnate 

branchlets, ultimate divisions without cortication; favellæ terminal on the branches, 

irregularly lobed, naked or with a short involucre; tetraspores solitary on the ends of 

the branchlets, at first tripartite, becoming polysporic. 

On the under side of rocks between tide-marks and on shells and algæ in deep 

water. 

Throughout our whole limit; Europe. 

A much more delicate species than the next, and recognized at once by the fact that the younger parts 

of the branches are without cortications, whereas in the next species the cortications extend nearly to 

the apex. It also differs in the position of the tetraspores, and the favellæ are usually naked, while in 

the following species they are surrounded and almost concealed by a well-marked involucre. The usual 

color is a grayish black, but in fading it often becomes pinkish. North of Cape Cod the species is usually 

found clinging to the under surfaces of rocks at low-water mark, in company with Ceramium Hooperi, 

Rhodochorton Rothii, and Sphacelaria radicans. In such situations the specimens are small. At 

Newport and Gay Head the plant attains a much larger size, and is abundantly washed ashore from 

deep water. 

P. SERRATA, Kütz. 

Fronds dark red, three to six inches long, compressed, ancipital, decompoundpinnate, 

pinnæ opposite, one pinna being short, undivided,

134 


straight or falcate, sharply serrate, especially on the lower side, and the opposing 

pinna pinnately divided or compound; pinnæ nearly at right angles to the axis, 

apices acute; tetraspores borne in dense ellipsoidal cluster either at the ends of the 

simple pinnæ or on the serrations and tips of the compound pinnæ; tetrasporic 

masses interspersed with monosiphonous incurved branches; favellæ in similar 

position to the tetraspores, nearly concealed by the large, incurved, usually serrate 

divisions of the involucre. 

On algæ, especially on stems of Laminaria, below low-water mark. 

Common north of Boston; Thimble Islands, near New Haven, and dredged off Block 

Island, Prof. Eaton. 

A common and characteristic alga of our northern coast, extending through Greenland to the northern 

coast of Europe, and also found in the North Pacific. The present species, together with Euthora 

cristata and Delesseria sinuosa, form the greater part of the specimens collected for ornamental 

purposes by ladies on the Northern New England coast. P. serrata, when dried, is usually very dark 

colored, unless it has previously been soaked for some time in fresh water, and it does not adhere well 

to paper unless under considerable pressure. It cannot be mistaken for any other species growing on 

cur coast. Whether it is a variety of P. plumosa is a question about which writers do not agree, but, 

although in this connection our form has been kept as a distinct species, it is highly probable that it is 

really nothing more than a coarser northern form of P. plumosa. The typical form of P. plumosa is 

certainly unknown in New England. The type is more slender, and the pinnæ are pectinate, not serrate. 

The position of the fruit is the same, the principal difference being in the more strongly marked 

involucre of the favellæ and in the tetraspores, which are borne on densely fastigiate branches, which 

have no cortications, and some of which are incurved and project beyond the general sporiferous mass. 

In P. plumosa the tetraspores are also borne on the tips of monosiphonous branches, but they are not 

densely conglomerate, nor are the projecting incurved ramuli prominent. The present species is very 

rare south of Cape Cod, being known in only two localities and in a much reduced form. 

CERAMIUM, Lyngb. 

(From κεραµιος [keramios], a small pitcher.) 

Fronds filiform, dichotomous or occasionally subpinnate, monosiphonous, composed 

of a series of large ovate or quadrate cells, with bands of small corticating cells at 

the nodes, and in some species also extending over the internodes; antheridia 

forming sessile patches on the upper branches; tetraspores tripartite, formed from 

the corticating cells; cystocarps (favellæ) sessile at the nodes, usually involucrate. 

A universally diffused and easily recognized genus, of which, however, the species are by no means 

easily recognized. The genus is distinguished by the monosiphonous, dichotomous frond, with bands of 

small corticating cells at the nodes, or, in some cases, covering the internodes as well. The tips of the 

filaments are forked and usually decidedly incurved, whence the generic name is derived. The apical 

growth and formation of the cortex is fully detailed by Nægeli and Cramer in Pflanzenphysiologische 

Untersuchugen, Part IV. The procarp in Ceramium is furnished with two trichogynes and a single 

carpogenic cell formed from the cortical cells on the convex side of the


tips of the branches. The genus has been split up into a number of different genera by Kützing, but by 

most writers his divisions are only accepted as subgenera. Sterile specimens are not easily determined 

and it is always desirable to have tetrasporic plants. Although we have an abundance of the genus on 

our coast, the number of species is comparatively small, and the group of species having spines at the 

nodes is, as far as is known, quite wanting. 

SECT. I. Fronds without spines, cortical cells decurrent from the nodes and more or 

less completely covering the internodes. 

C. RUBRUM, Ag. (C. rubrum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 181.) 

Fronds robust, dichotomous, subfastigiate, branches erect, apices incurved or 

forcipate, nodes contracted below; tetraspores in irregular series at the nodes, 

immersed; favellæ lateral, solitary, with a short involucre. 

Var. PROLIFERUM, Ag. (C. botryocarpum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 215.) 

Fronds beset on all sides with numerous, lateral, simple or forked branchlets. 

Var. SECUNDATUM, Ag. 

Branchlets generally secund. 

Var. SQUARROSUM, Harv. 

Fronds small, regularly dichotomous, fastigiate, with very few, short, lateral 

branchlets, lower divisions distant, spreading, upper divisions close together, widely 

spreading, apices often revolute. 

Everywhere common; var. squarrosum on Zostera, Massachusetts Bay. 

A ubiquitous and variable species, of which we have enumerated only the principal forms. The typical 

form is easily recognized, and the same is true of most of the varieties. The var. decurrens has the 

internodes partly naked, especially in the upper part. The var. decurrens of the Nereis is referred by 

Agardh to the next species, and is distinguished from the true var. decurrens of C. rubrum, which has 

immersed tetraspores, by the large tetraspores arranged in a regular circle at the nodes and projecting 

decidedly above the surface. 

C. circinnatum, Kütz. 

Fronds setaceous, dichotomous, fastigiate, divisions erect, patent, apices forcipate, 

internodes partly corticated by the cells which are decurrent from the nodes; 

tetraspores large, projecting in a ring around the upper nodes. 

Glencove, L. I., Mr. Young; Dartmouth, Mass., Miss Ingraham; Magnolia, Mass., 

Mrs. Bray. 

Agardh, in his Epicrisis, refers to the present species the C. decurrens of Harvey (Phyc. Brit., Pl. 276), 

which in the Nereis Am. Bor., is made a variety of C. rubrum. There is a var. decurrens of C. rubrum 

which is admitted by Agardh, which, if we understand correctly, has small immersed tetraspores. This 

form occurs also with us, but we have no notes as to the locality. To the present species we refer forms 

in which the upper internodes are scarcely corticated at all and in which the large, projecting 

tetraspores are in a single ring at the upper nodes.

136 


SECT. II. Fronds without spines, cortical cells confined to a definitely limited band 

round the nodes, the internodes diaphanous. 

C. DIAPHANUM, Roth; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 193. 

Fronds brownish red, filaments two to four inches high, loosely tufted, main 

branches setaceous, rather stout, distantly forking, beset with short, lateral, 

dichotomous branchlets, apices incurved; tetraspores immersed, in whorls at the 

nodes; favellæ lateral, involucrate. 

Nahant, New Bedford, Mass.; Providence, R. I.; New York Bay, Harvey; Europe; 

California. 

The localities given are quoted from the Nereis. As far as our own experience goes, the present species 

is of very infrequent occurrence on the New England coast, although we have specimens collected at 

Lynn, Mass., and others from the vicinity of New York, collected by Mr. A. R. Young, which may 

possibly be referred to C. diaphanum. In almost all cases the C. diaphanum of American collectors is 

the C. strictum of the Phycologia Britannica a species closely related to the present, and agreeing with 

it in the fructification, but differing in ramification. C. diaphanum has rather stout leading branches, 

which are beset with secondary dichotomous branches which are alternately given off from the main 

branches, and which are much finer than the main branches, the tips being capillary. The general 

outline of the frond is pyramidal, and that of the principal branches and their ramifications is ovalelongated. 

In C. strictum there are no leading branches, but the filaments are of a pretty nearly 

uniform diameter, regularly dichotomous throughout, and form globose tufts. Both species differ from 

our other species, except C. Hooperi, in being of a brownish-purple rather than of a distinctly rosecolored 

tint, and both adhere closely to paper in drying. 

C. STRICTUM, (Kütz.) Harv. (C. strictum, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 334.—Gongroceras strictum, 

Kütz.) 

Fronds brownish red, filaments capillary, two to six inches high, densely tufted, 

branches uniformly dichotomous throughout, divisions erect, fastigiate above, apices 

forcipate; tetraspores immersed, whorled at the nodes. 

On Zostera and other marine plants. 

Common from New York to Cape Cod. 

This species forms large tufts at the base of Zostera in warm, shallow bays, and is often in company 

with Polysiphonia Olneyi. In the Little Harbor at Wood’s Holl it is found in large quantities, after a 

heavy blow, lying unattached on the mud, just below low-water mark. 

C. HOOPERI, Harv. (C. Hooperi, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, p. 214.—C. 

Deslongchampsii, Farlow, in Report U. S. Fish Comm., 1875.) 

Fronds dark purple, one to four inches high, filaments procumbent and densely 

interwoven at base, above dichotomous, with short, erect, irregularly placed lateral 

branches, apices straight, erect, cortical cells forming a sharply defined band at the 

nodes, axile cells short above, becoming twice as long as broad below; rhizoidal 

filaments unilateral,


single at the nodes, numerous, usually unicellular, often ending in irregular disks; 

tetraspores in a circle at the nodes, immersed in the cortical cells; favellæ? 

Forming tufts on mud-covered rocks at low tide. 

New Haven, Prof. Eaton; near New York, Mr. Young; Newport‚ R. I.; common from 

Nahant to Eastport. 

This species is not, as Harvey and Agardh supposed, very distinct, but, on the contrary, can scarcely be 

distinguished from C. Deslongchampsii, except in the tetraspores, which are immersed, not projecting 

as in that species. Both species inhabit similar localities, both are deep purple in color, are procumbent 

at the base, and have numerous rhizoids; the branching and erect tips are the same in both. 

Furthermore, as it occurs with us, C. Hooperi not unfrequently bears precisely such irregular botryoidal 

masses as are found on C. Deslongchampsii in Europe, and which are figured in the Phycologia 

Britannica. Harvey, as well as Nægeli and Cramer, doubts whether these masses are really favellæ, 

and, judging from American specimens, they are more probably monstrosities. In one case we found the 

distortions on a specimen bearing tetraspores, and Nægeli and Cramer have observed a similar case, a 

presumption against the favelloid nature of the swellings. Fully-matured tetraspores are to be desired, 

and it may be that they will be found to be prominent, as in C. Deslongchampsii, in which case the 

validity of the species would be more than doubtful. 

C. FASTIGIATUM, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 255. 

Fronds lake-red, densely tufted, two to five inches high, filaments capillary, 

dichotomous throughout, divisions erect, level-topped, apices erect or slightly 

incurved; tetraspores secund on the outer side of the branches, prominent; favellæ 

small, lateral, with a short involucre. 

On Zostera. 

Massachusetts Bay; Greenport; Newport; Long Branch, Harvey. 

This species is at present a puzzle. In American herbaria one frequently finds specimens labelled C. 

fastigiatum, and some specimens bear Harvey’s own handwriting. Unfortunately, the species is 

persistently sterile, for we have only twice found tetraspores in what seemed to be this species, and 

sterile specimens are hardly sufficient for determination in the genus Ceramium. What was apparently 

considered by Harvey to be his C. fastigiatum is common south of Gape Cod and forms beautiful tufts 

on Zostera. The color is a lake-red, the filaments are all capillary and regularly dichotomous, the upper 

segments being level-topped, so that when spread on paper the species has a regular outline. The apices 

are erect, not rolled inwards at the tip, and short rhizoidal processes are given off from some of the 

nodes. Harvey states that the tetraspores are prominent and secund on the outer edge of the branches, 

while Agardh says they are whorled at the nodes. In one specimen we found them as described by 

Harvey. It must be admitted that when sterile the species approaches too near C. tenuissimum, and it 

is much to be desired that a large set of fruiting specimens be examined to settle the disputed question 

of the tetraspores. C. fastigiatum is a species apparently not well known to continental botanists, who 

seem to have at times included it in other species without reference to British specimens. With us it is 

common, although, considering that there may be a doubt about the determination, we have only 

quoted the localities given by Harvey. By Agardh C. fastigiatum is considered closely related to C. 

Deslongchampsii, but judging by Harvey an specimens, both from Ireland and New England, we can 

hardly think that the two species are immediately related.

138 


C. corymbosum, Ag. 

“Fronds capillary, rather regularly decompound-dichotomous, branches erectopatent, 

corymbose, fastigiate, apices forcipate, lower joints four to five times longer 

than broad, upper joints subequal; tetraspores naked, emergent, secund on the outer 

side of the branches, lower portion resting on the cortical layer.” (Agardh, Epicrisis, 

p. 93.) 

Atlantic coast of North America. 

This species is said by Agardh to resemble C. fastigiatum in its ramifications, but with more expanded 

branches, and to differ in having a violet color and a different arrangement of the tetraspores. From 

this it would appear that the two species are practically distinguished by the different position of the 

tetraspores. With regard to their position in C. fastigiatum, as has already been said, Agardh and 

Harvey do not agree. 

C. TENUISSIMUM, (Lyngb.) Ag. 

Fronds rosy-red, two to four inches high, densely tufted, capillary, decompounddichotomous, 

branches erect, patent, apices forcipate; tetraspores borne on the 

swollen nodes, usually on the outer side, often several together; favellæ lateral, 

involucrate. 

Var. arachnoideum, Ag. 

Fronds more slender than in the type, tetraspores exserted, secund on the outer side 

of the branches, solitary or several together. 

Var. patentissimum, Harv. 

Fronds small, dichotomies distant and patent, the branches ending in dichotomomultifid, 

divaricating, corymboso-fastigiate branchlets. 

On Zostera and algæ. 

Common in Long Island Sound; Gloucester, Mass., Mrs. Davis; Europe. 

The present species, according to Agardh, includes the C. nodosum of the Phycologia Britannica, but 

Harvey’s plate certainly does not correctly represent the tetraspores of the typical form of the species. 

In the type the nodes are swollen, especially on the upper margin, and the rather large tetraspores 

project beyond the cortical cells, usually on the outer side of the node, and there are frequently from 

two to four together. In the var. arachnoideum the tetraspores become almost naked, being only 

slightly covered by the cortical cells in their lower part. The var. patentissimum of Harvey has a 

somewhat different ramification from the type. It must be admitted that the limits of C. tenuissimum 

are not well marked, and it may be that in the present case we have confused two distinct species. 

C. CAPRI-CORNU, (Reinsch). (Hormoceras Capri-Cornu, Reinsch, Contrib. ad Alg. et 

Fang., p. 57, Pl. 47.—C. Youngii, Farlow, Rept. U. S. Fish Comm., 1875.) 

Fronds brownish purple, one to three inches high, filaments setaceous, repeatedly 

dichotomous, divisions erecto-patent, ultimate divisions subfastigiate,


apices much incurved, branches beset throughout with very short incurved or 

recurved branchlets, cells in upper part scarcely as long as broad, two to three times 

as long below, corticating cells forming a sharply defined band at the nodes; 

tetraspores and favellæ? 

In eight feet of water. 

Canarsie, L. I., Mr. A. R. Young. 

This curious species has unfortunately never been found in fruit. We have only seen three specimens, 

which were all collected by Mr. Young. The largest was about three inches high and the filaments were 

coarser than those of C. diaphanum and C. strictum. It is easily recognized by the numerous short 

incurved branchlets which arise singly or in twos and threes at the nodes. It is possible that a large 

series of specimens would have shown that the present is a form of some other species, but when 

received from Mr. Young in 1875 it seemed so distinct that the name C. Youngii was given to it, and 

under that name it was mentioned in the Report of the U. S. Fish Commission for 1875, but without 

any description. The Hormoceras Capri-Cornu of Reinsch, from Anticosti, judging from the plate and 

description in the Contributiones, published in 1874-75, is apparently the same as C. Youngii, and the 

name of Reinsch has the priority. 

SUBORDER SPYRIDIEÆ. 

Fronds filiform, monosiphonous, formed of longer branching filaments of 

indeterminate growth, from which are given off short, simple branches of 

determinate growth, cells of main filaments corticated throughout, the secondary 

branches corticated only at the nodes; antheridia borne on the secondary branches, 

arising from the nodes and finally covering the internodes; tetraspores tripartite, 

borne at the nodes of secondary branches; cystocarps sub terminal on the branches, 

consisting of obovate masses of spores in dense whorls around the central cell, with a 

pericarp formed of monosiphonous filaments packed together in a gelatinous 

substance. 

An order consisting of a single genus and a small number of species, most of which are tropical. The 

systematic position of the order is a matter of dispute. The fronds resemble closely those of the 

Ceramieæ, as do also the tetraspores, but the cystocarps are peculiar and not closely related to those of 

any other order. A section of the mature fruit, which is usually either two or three parted, shows a 

monosiphonous axis, around the upper cells of which the spores are arranged in irregularly whorled 

groups. The whole is surrounded by a wall, which is formed by the union, by means of a jelly, of the 

elongated tips of subdichotomous filaments which arise from the cortical cells of the nodes just below 

the sporiferous cells. The antheridia are first formed at the nodes, but soon extend over the internodes 

for a considerable distance. The development of the frond is fully given by Cramer, l. c. In the Nereis 

the order is placed next to Ceramiaceæ, and in the Epicrisis of Agardh between the Dumontiaceæ and 

the Areschougieæ.

140 


SPYRIDIA, Harv. 

(From σπρυις [spruis], a basket.) 

Characters those of the genus. 

S. FILAMENTOSA, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 46. Pl. X, Fig. 1, and Pl. XII, Fig. 2. 

Fronds filamentous, in expanded tufts four to eight inches high, branches irregularly 

placed, spreading, repeatedly divided, secondary branches subequal, spirally 

inserted, ending in a mucronate tip composed of two or three hyaline cells; 

tetraspores tripartite, sessile at the nodes of branchlets, solitary or clustered; 

cystocarps two or three lobed. 

Var. REFRACTA, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part III, Pl. 34 a. 

Fronds robust, subdichotomous, the branches naked, divaricating, with very wide 

axils, arched, the terminal ones frequently revolute. 

On Zostera, wharves, and mud below low-water mark. 

Common from Cape Cod southward; Massachusetts Bay, Harvey; most warm seas. 

Rather a beautiful species when growing, but which becomes brownish in drying and does not adhere 

very well to paper. It does not collapse when removed from the water, but remains covered with drops 

which adhere to the branchlets. The branches, although rather coarse, are brittle. The species is more 

common in Long Island Sound than in Europe, certainly than on the Atlantic coast. It may be 

recognized under the microscope by the monosiphonous corticated branches and hyaline branchlets, 

corticated only at the nodes and with a mucronate tip. The antheridia, of which, so far as we know, no 

description has hitherto been given, surround the branchlets, covering several cells near the base. They 

arise from divisions of the cortical cells, which form closely packed, short filaments, and extend over the 

internodes, those from the different nodes becoming confluent. The individuals which bear the 

cystocarps are distinct from those which bear the antheridia, and may be recognized by their more 

dense habit. 

SUBORDER CRYPTONEMIEÆ. 

Fronds solid or becoming hollow with age, cylindrical, compressed or 

membranaceous; antheridia forming superficial spots or small tufts; tetraspores 

usually cruciate and scattered in the cortical layer, sometimes in localized spots; 

cystocarps consisting of a single mass of irregularly placed spores surrounded by a 

gelatinous envelope, but not provided with a special cellular pericarp, immersed in 

the substance of the frond, spores discharged by a narrow passage formed between 

the cells of the cortex. 

An order comprising about 14 or 15 genera and between 125 and 150 species, most of which are 

inhabitants of warm seas, and vary in consistency from subgelatinous to coriaceous and cartilaginous. 

Our only two species belong to the tribe Nemastomeæ. There are numerous species on the Californian 

coast, nearly all difficult of deterinination


owing to the great variation in shape. The suborder approaches very closely to the Ceramieæ, since the 

cystocarps are in many of the species true favellæ, which, instead of being naked, are concealed in the 

fronds. It is in fact merely an arbitrary matter whether one places Gloiosiphonia in one suborder or the 

other. The fronds are more complicated than those of the Ceramieæ. In genera like Gloiosiphonia and 

Nemastoma there is an axis formed respectively of a monosiphonous filament or bundle of filaments, 

and an ill-defined cortex formed simply of the loosely united lateral filaments. In other genera, as in 

Halymenia, the cortex is more distinctly marked, and in Prionitis and Cryptonemia the frond is dense 

and coriaceous. 

GLOIOSIPHONIA, Carm. 

(From γλοιος [gloios], sticky, and σιφων [siphon], a tube.) 

Fronds monœcious, gelatinous, cylindrical, branching, solid above, and formed of a 

monosiphonous axis, whose cells in their central portion bear whorls of four 

secondary branches, which divide so as to form umbels, which collectively form the 

cortex; descending filaments formed from the lower part of secondary branches; 

lower portion of fronds hollow; tetraspores cruciate, borne at the summit of the 

cortical filaments; antheridia forming spots on the surface of the fronds; cystocarps 

borne on the lower part of the cortical filaments, consisting of tufts of branching, 

radiating filaments densely packed in a single mass and surrounded by jelly. 

A genus containing but a single certainly known species, found both in Europe and this country. The 

genus has been placed by some writers in the Cryptonemieæ and by others in the Ceramieæ. It in fact 

connects the two suborders, the fruit being a favella in which the spores all arrive at maturity at the 

same time, forming, in the terminology of some algologists, a simple nucleus. The ripe cystocarps are 

concealed in the frond, as in the Cryptonemieæ, but, on the other hand, the structure of the so-called 

cortical layer is like the outer portion of Dudresnaya, which is generally placed in the Ceramieæ. A 

detailed account of the development of the cystocarp in G. capillaris will be found in Notes 

Algologiques, p. 41. 

G. CAPILLARIS, Carm. (G. capillaris, Carm., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 57; Notes Algologiques, 

Pl. 13.) 

Fronds gelatinous, four inches to a foot long, solid above, hollow below, main 

branches subsimple, terete, naked below, densely beset above with decompound 

lateral branches, branchlets tapering at both extremities; cystocarps abundant, 

frequently forming nodosities. 

In pools below low-water mark. 

New London, Harvey; Nahant, W. G, F.; Chelsea, Miss Brewer; Gloucester, Mrs. 

Bray and Mrs. Davis; Hampton Beach, Dr. Durkee; Peak’s Island, Maine, Prof. 

Goode. 

A widely diffused but locally rare species, found in early summer and disappearing in August. It is 

easily recognized at sight by its delicate gelatinous substance and brilliant rose color and by the 

tapering branchlets. Cystocarpic specimens are not unfrequently found, but tetrasporic plants are rare 

and have never been observed in this country. The species shrinks very much in drying and adheres 

closely to paper.

142 


NEMASTOMA. 

(From νηµα [nema], a thread, and στοµα [stoma], a mouth.) 

Fronds gelatino-carnose, compressed-cylindrical or plane, dichotomous or 

subpinnate, composed of an axial layer of densely woven longitudinal filaments, 

from which are given off short, lateral, dichotomous, fastigiate filaments, which are 

united by a gelatinous substance to form a peripheral layer; tetraspores cruciate, 

borne in the peripheral layer; antheridia borne on the superficial cells of the 

periphery; cystocarps (favellæ) buried in the peripheral layer, spores escaping by a 

narrow opening between the peripheral filaments. 

A genus comprising not far from a dozen species, which inhabit principally the warmer waters of the 

globe, the genus being particularly well represented in Australia. The fronds of the different species 

vary from only slightly compressed and linear to broad and palmate, and in G. marginifera the frond 

resembles in shape that of Rhodymenia palmata. The substance is rather gelatinous and the 

microscopic structure resembles very closely that of the fronds of some of the Nemalieæ. The fruit of N. 

marginifera is described by Bornet, in Notes Algologiques, as being a true favella like that of 

Callithamnion. The genus is generally placed near Gloiosiphonia, and, like that genus, closely connects 

the Ceramieæ with the Cryptonemeæ. 

N. (?) BAIRDII, Farlow, Proc. Am. Acad. Arts and Sciences, 1875, p. 351. 

Fronds purplish-rose colored, gelatinous, four inches long, one inch wide below, 

vermiform, once or twice dichotomously divided, axils acute, apices attenuated; 

tetraspores cruciate, borne on the tips of the peripheral filaments; cystocarps 

Washed ashore at Gay Head, W. G. F. 

A very rare species, of which only a single specimen is known. It was found on the beach near the lighthouse 

at Gay Head, Mass., in company with Scinaia furcellata, in August, 1871. The specimen was a 

fragment, without the base of the plant, but with abundant tetraspores, which were borne on the tips of 

the peripheral filaments. In the absence of cystocarpic specimens the genus cannot be ascertained with 

certainty, and botanists who visit Gay Head, should seach [sic] for the plant by dredging off the Devil’s 

Bridge in five to ten fathoms. The specimen collected was at first supposed to be a portion of a broad 

specimen of Nemalion purpureum, a species not yet known on our coast. The peripheral filaments are 

loosely united together by a gelatinous mass, as in the subgenus Gymnophlæa of Agardh. 

SUBORDER DUMONTIEÆ. 

Fronds tubular, branching or proliferous; cystocarps immersed in the frond, 

composed of a single mass of irregularly placed cells, similar in most respects to 

those of the Cryptonemieæ. 

A small suborder, included by Harvey in the Cryptonemieæ. The development of the cystocarps is not 

well known, and on our coast there is no material to be obtained for the study of the suborder. The 

common Dumontia filiformis of Northern Europe is wanting with us, and the genus Halosaccion, of 

which we have one representative,


has never yet been found with cystocarpic fruit, the genus being referred to the present suborder in 

consequence of the resemblance of the frond to that of Dumontia. According to Bornet, the spores in D. 

filiformis are borne directly on the carpogenic cell, whereas in the nearly related genera of 

Cryptonemieæ there are sterile cells between the spores and the carpogenic cell. 

HALOSACCION, Kütz. 

(From αλς [als], the sea, and σακκιον [sakkion], a small sack.) 

Fronds hollow, tubular or sack-shaped‚ simple or proliferously branched, consisting 

of an internal layer of large, roundish, angular, colorless cells, usually arranged in 

linear series and packed closely together by a gelatinous substance; tetraspores 

cruciate, immersed in the cortical layer; cystocarps? 

A small genus, including about ten species, of which H. ramentaceum is common in the North Atlantic, 

the other species being confined to the North Pacific and extending as far south as California on the 

east coast and Japan on the west coast. The species are all coarse and somewhat cartilaginous, and are 

either in the form of elongated obovate sacks or tubular and proliferous. The cystocarpic fruit is 

unknown, and the genus is placed conjecturally near Dumontia in consequence of the structure of the 

frond. 

H. RAMENTACEUM, (L.) Ag. (H. ramentaceum, Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, Pl. 29 a.—Ulva 

sobolifera, Fl. Dan., Pl. 356.) 

Fronds brownish purple, six to fourteen inches high, cylindrical-compressed, 

attenuated at the base, simple or irregularly branched, more or less densely beset 

with scattered or crowded, simple or forked, lateral proliferations; tetraspores large, 

spherical, cruciate; cystocarps? 

Var. GLADIATUM, Eaton, Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. II, p. 347. 

Proliferations long, simple, somewhat incurved, inflated. 

On algæ in deep pools and on mud-covered rocks at low-water mark. 

From Gloucester, Mass., northward; North Atlantic and Pacific. The variety at 

Eastport. 

A characteristic species of our northern coast, occasionally found at Gloucester and becoming very 

common at Eastport. The fronds are very variable in shape, yet, on the whole, easily recognized. The 

most marked form is the var. gladiatum. The robustness depends a good deal on the place of growth. In 

exposed pools the fronds are short and very densely proliferous; in sheltered harbors, like that of 

Eastport, the proliferations grow long, and are of rather delicate texture, approaching H. microsporum, 

which hardly seems a distinct species. Kjellman, in Spetzbergens Marina klorofyllförande Thallophyter, 

mentions certain hemispherical protuberances on the fronds of this species, and the same are found on 

our coast. As before stated, the specimen of Asperococcus compressus credited to Gloucester, Mass., was 

an error, the specimen being in reality a sterile and partly bleached Halosaccion. 

SUBORDER GIGARTINEÆ. 

Fronds terete, compressed or membranaceous, fleshy or cartilaginous; antheridia in 

superficial spots or sunk in small crypts; tetraspores

144 


cruciate or zonate, usually collected in nemathecia or in superficial spots (sori), 

sometimes scattered; cystocarps composed of numerous masses of irregularly placed 

spores, between which are found portions of the tissue of the interior of the frond, 

the whole sporiferous mass being covered by the swollen surfaces of the frond, which 

are sometimes raised in subspherical conceptacles; spores discharged through 

special carpostomes. 

A large suborder, comprising species which are sometimes more or less cylindrical in shape, but which 

are more frequently expanded and of a coarse, subcartilaginous consistency. Some of the largest 

Florideæ are found among the Gigartineæ, and perhaps no other suborder contains so many ill-defined 

species as the present. Owing to the thickness and opacity of the fronds, the study of the development 

of the cystocarps is attended with very great difficulty, and as yet no fall account of the formation of the 

fruit of any of the species has been published. In the Notes Algologiques, Bornet, however, gives a brief 

account of the formation of the cystocarp in Gymnogongrus patens. In all the species the spores are 

irregularly grouped in several distinct masses, which are imbedded in the tissue of the frond, the cells 

of which undergo a change as the spores ripen, their walls becoming thick and lamellated, and 

traversed by numerous small canals. In Callophyllis and some other genera the sporiferous mass and 

the enveloping tissue of the frond form subglobose swellings external to the surface of the fronds, but in 

other genera, as Gymnogongrus, the sporiferous mass occupies the central part of the frond, which 

swells on all sides. The cystocarps discharge their spores through carpostomes or narrow canals formed 

in the cortex of the fronds. Sometimes there is a single carpostome, but in some genera, as 

Gymnogongrus and Ahnfeldtia, there are several. 

1. Fronds terete.................................................................................................. 3 

2. Fronds compressed........................................................................................ 4 

3. Substance rigid, horny................................................................... Ahnfeldtia. 

Substance soft, succulent ............................................................. Cystoclonium. 

4. Fronds thin, leaf-like.................................................................. Phyllophora. 

Fronds cartilaginous or subcartilaginous .......................................................... 5 

5. Cystocarps external in special leaflets ........................................... Gigartina. 

Cystocarps immersed ........................................................................................ 6 

6. Central part of frond composed of roundish polygonal cells. 

Gymnogongrus. 

7. Central part of frond formed of slender anastomosing filaments. 

Chondrus. 

PHYLLOPHORA, Grev. 

(From φυλλον [phyllon], a leaf, and φερω [phero], to bear.) 

Fronds stipitate, stipes expanding into a rigid-membranaceous, flat, simple or cleft 

lamina, proliferous from the disk or margin, composed internally of oblong polygonal 

cells, with a cortical layer of minute, colored, vertically seriated cells; antheridia 

contained in small cavities; tetraspores cruciate, arranged in moniliform filaments, 

which are packed together in external excrescences (nemathecia); cystocarps


external, globose, sessile or pedicellate, containing within a thick carp several 

irregular masses of spores imbedded among the cells of the frond; spores discharged 

by a narrow carpostome. 

The genus comprises eight or nine species of the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, one species, P. 

Clevelandii, being found on the coast of California. The species are dark red, rather coarse and rigid, 

not adhering to paper, and are very apt to be covered with Bryozoa. They inhabit rather deep water, 

and are characterized by their external fruit, the tetraspores being arranged in nemathecia or warts 

composed of densely packed filaments, each cell of which becomes a cruciate tetraspore. Some of the 

broader forms pass with collectors for species of Rhodymenia. 

P. BRODIÆI, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 20. 

Stipes cylindrical at base, compressed up wards, branched, the branches expanding 

into oblong or wedge-shaped, simple or forked, membranaceous laminæ, often 

proliferous at the summit; cystocarps globose, sessile on the laminæ; nemathecia 

spherical, pedunculate, at the tips of the laminæ. 

In five to ten fathoms of water. 

Newport, R. I.; Wood’s Holl, Mass.; and common from Nahant northward. 

P. MEMBRANIFOLIA, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 163. 

Stipe cylindrical, filiform, branched, the branches expanding into broadly wedgeshaped 

bifid or dichotomous laminæ; cystocarps ovoid, stipitate, rising from the 

branches or laminæ; nemathecia forming broad, dark-colored, convex patches in the 

center of the laminæ. 

la deep water on stones. 

Common from Long Island Sound northward; North Atlantic. 

Our two species of Phyllophora are perfectly easy to identify when tetrasporic specimens are obtained. 

P. Brodiæi is a larger plant than P. membranifolia, and the laminæ are longer and larger and less 

broad at the base than in P. membranifolia. P. Brodiæi varies considerably, however, and in the spring 

the bright-red broad laminæ are often broken from the stipes and washed ashore, when they might be 

mistaken for some species of Rhodymenia. 

GYMNOGONGRUS, Mart. 

(From γυµνος [gymnos], naked, and γογγρος [goggros], an excrescence.) 

Fronds dark red or purple, carnoso-coriaceous, terete, compressed or flat, 

dichotomous, composed of a medullary stratum of roundish, angular, colorless cells 

and a cortical stratum of closely packed short filaments formed of small colored cells; 

tetraspores cruciate, borne in hemispherical nemathecia; cystocarps immersed in the 

swollen frond, consisting of several irregular masses of spores imbedded among the 

cells of the frond; spores discharged by a carpostome. 

A genus of about thirty species, found principally in the warmer pants of the world, all rather 

coriaceous, but not attaining any great size. The genus is distinguished 

S. Miss. 59——10

146 


from Chondrus, to which several of the species were formerly referred, by the structure of the frond and 

the arrangement of the tetraspores; from Phyllophora by the absence of a stipe and the immersed 

cystocarps. 

G. NORVEGICUS, J. Ag. (Sphærococcus Norvegicus, Ag.—Chondrus Norvegicus, 

Lyngb.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 187.—Oncotylus Norvegicus, Kütz.) 

Fronds deep red, two to four inches high, linear, dichotomous, flat, fastigiate, axils 

rounded, patent, apices obtuse; cystocarps immersed in the upper segments 

projecting on both sides of the frond; nemathecia sessile, hemispherical, on both 

sides of the frond. 

In deep pools on rocks. 

Penobscot Bay, Mr. Hooper; Peak’s Island, Maine, W. G. F.; Nahant, W. G. F.; 

Beverly, Mass., Miss Alexander. Europe. 

Our plant, which is apparently rather rare, is the same as that of Europe, although narrower forms are 

sometimes seen which perhaps might be referred to the G. Torreyi of Agardh. G. Griffithsiæ is to be 

expected with us, as it is common in Europe. The present species is found only in the autumn and 

winter, either in deep cold pools or below low-water mark. Its resemblance to the simpler forms of 

Chondrus crispus is so great that it is perhaps mistaken for that species by amateur collectors. Its 

color, however, is red rather than purple, and the whole plant is thinner and more delicate than C. 

crispus, which, moreover, has quite a different microscopic structure. 

G. TORREYI, Ag. 

Frond compressed, flattish, dichotomous, fastigiate, segments linear, very narrow, 

the axils rounded. 

New York, Prof. Agardh. 

A species known only by the above description of Agardh. Bailey, in Am. Jour. Sci., Vol. VI, 1848, p. 39, 

makes the singular statement, in speaking of Dasya elegans, Ag., that he has examined a fragment of 

the original specimen of Sphærococcus Torreyi in the Torrey Herbarium, “which,” he says, “unless I am 

greatly mistaken, was founded on a battered specimen of this plant.” 

AHNFELDTIA, Fries. 

(Named in honor of Nils Otto Ahnfeldt, of Lund.) 

Fronds cartilagineo-corneous, subterete, dichotomous or irregularly branched, 

composed of densely packed elongated cells within and a horizontal layer of closely 

packed short filaments formed of small colored cells; cystocarps immersed in the 

fronds; tetraspores in nemathecia which surrounded the branches (?). 

A small genus, comprising stiff, wiry, or cartilaginous algæ, whose fructification is not well known. As 

it is, the genus is distinguished from Gymnogongrus rather by the rigidity and terete character of the 

fronds than by any more definite character, since the fact that the tetraspores in the present genus are 

in the nemathecia which surround the branches, even if fully proved, which is not the case, would 

hardly constitute sufficient ground for the separation of the genera. In the only common species of the 

North Atlantic cystocarps have never been seen and the nemathecia have not been satisfactorily 

examined. In Ahnfeldtia gigartinoides of the west coast the cystocarps form nodose swellings in the 

upper part of the branches, and there are numerous


carpostomes by which the spores are discharged. However ill defined the present genus may be, there is 

no difficulty in recognizing at sight our only species. 

A. PLICATA, Fries, (Gymnogongrus plicatus, Kütz.; Phyc. Brit.‚ Pl. 288.—Gigartina 

plicata, Lam.x.—Sphærococcus plicatus, Ag.) 

Fronds horny, terete, filiform, very irregularly branched, entangled, branches ditrichotomous, 

with lateral, often secund, branches, axils rounded, terminal divisions 

elongated; cystocarps and tetraspores? 

Var. fastigiata. 

Fronds regularly dichotomous, terminal segments equal. 

On rocks and algæ in exposed tide-pools. 

From New York northward; Europe; North Pacific. 

Forming very irregularly branched, rigid tufts several inches in diameter. The color is usually nearly 

black, becoming on exposure yellowish or greenish. More wiry and rigid than any of our other Florideæ 

. 

CYSTOCLONIUM, Kütz. 

(From κυστις [kystis], a bladder, and κλωνιον [klonion], a small twig.) 

Fronds fleshy, succulent, terete, decompoundly branched, composed of three strata 

of cells, an axile series of loosely interlaced filaments formed of delicate elongated 

cells, surrounding which is a layer of large rounded cells and a cortical layer of small 

roundish-angular cells; antheridia in spots on the upper part of the fronds, 

interspersed among the unchanged cortical cells; tetraspores zonate, scattered in the 

cortical layer; cystocarps large, immersed in the frond, usually prominent at one 

side, with a single carpostome. 

The account given above of the structure of the frond refers to the appearance presented in sectioning 

the mature plant. A study of the development shows that the external and medial layers really are 

derived from the axial filaments, or rather that all three are formed from a common set of filaments at 

the apex of the frond. The frond of Cystoclonium might be mistaken for that of Rhabdonia, but the fruit 

is very different. The genus comprises about half a dozen described species, but only one is at all well 

known. 

C. PURPURASCENS, Kütz. (Hypnea purpurascens, Harv., Phyc. Brit.‚ Pl. 116.) 

Fronds brownish rose-colored, six inches to two feet long, an eighth to a quarter of 

an inch in diameter, terete, subpinnately decompound, much branched, branches 

alternate, elongate, beset with alternately decompound branchlets which taper at 

each end; cystocarps numerous [sic], large, often forming nodose swellings in the 

branches. 

Var. cirrhosa. 

The branches drawn out into long, twisted tendrils.

148 


In tide-pools and just below low-water mark. 

Very common from New York northward; Europe. 

With the exception of Ceramium rubrum, the present is probably the most common species of Florideæ 

found on our coast. It not unfrequently attains a length of a foot and a half, and when washed from its 

attachment and exposed to the sunlight assumes a bright orange color, which is attractive to many 

collectors. The Solieria chordalis, said by Mr. Samuel Ashmead* to have been collected in Greenland by 

the Hayes Arctic expedition, was probably a sterile plant of Cystoclonium purpurascens. 

GIGARTINA, Lam.x. 

(From γιγαρτον [gigarton], a grape-stone.) 

Fronds fleshy, cartilaginous, compressed, composed of an internal layer of 

longitudinal, slender, anastomosing filaments, which pass horizontally outwards 

and divide dichotomously into short moniliform filaments, the whole set in a 

gelatinous substance; antheridia in superficial spots; tetraspores cruciate, densely 

aggregated, forming spots just below the surface; conceptacles external. 

A genus of which nearly fifty species have been described, but some of which are of doubtful value. 

They abound in the Pacific Ocean, several species being found in California, but we have only one 

species. 

G. MAMILLOSA, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 199. 

Fronds dark purple, three to six inches high, half an inch to two inches broad, 

flattish, channelled, linear, decompound, dichotomous, fastigiate, upper segments 

wedge-shaped, bifid; cystocarps borne in short papillæ given off from the surface and 

margin of the frond. 

On rocks at Low-water mark, in company with Chondrus crispus. 

Common from Boston northward; Europe. 

Bearing some resemblance to the common Irish moss, with which it usually grows, but distinguished by 

the numerous papillæ which cover the surface of the fronds and bear the fruit. The present species may 

occur in California, but most of the specimens of G. mamillosa from the west coast belong rather to G. 

papillata, Ag. 

CHONDRUS, Stack. 

(From χονδρος [chondros], cartilage.) 

Fronds and tetraspores as in Gigartina; cystocarps immersed in the frond. 

A small genus as limited by modern writers, but formerly made to include a large number of forms. The 

three genera Gigartina, Chondrus, and Iridæa are very nearly related. In the first-named genus the 

cystocarps are borne in external conceptacles, and in the last two they are immersed. 

C. CRISPUS (Linn.), Stack.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 63.—Irish moss. 

Fronds purple, three to six inches high, stipitate, flabelliform, dichotomous, 

fastigiate, flat, the segments linear-cuneate; cystocarps immersed in the frond and 

usually projecting on one side. 

* Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. XV, p. 93.


On rocks at low-water mark. 

Common from New York northward. 

The common Irish moss which is used for culinary purposes, and also for clarifying beer. It is also said 

to be used in the manufacture of cheap cotton cloths. Although very variable in shape, it is not likely to 

be mistaken for any other species, except possibly sterile specimens of Gigartina mamillaris or 

Gymnogongrus Norvegicus, which is, however, a rare species. When growing exposed to the light, the 

color is a yellow-green. 

SUBORDER RHODYMENIEÆ. 

Fronds membranaceous or filiform, solid or tubular; antheridia forming superficial 

patches; tetraspores tripartite, cruciate, or zonate, either scattered in distinct spots 

or sometimes sunk in crypts; cystocarps external, containing densely packed 

subdichotomous filaments, arranged in distinct masses around a basal placenta with 

a thick pericarp, which is connected by numerous filaments with the placenta. 

The present suborder is exceedingly ill-defined, and no two writers agree exactly as to its limits. In the 

typical genera we find a distinct basal placenta on which are borne masses of spores, which when young 

are seen to be formed of subdichotomous filaments, but which when mature are arranged without order 

and held together by a gelatinous envelope. Diverging from the type, we have genera like 

Cordylecladia, in which, even at maturity, the spores preserve to a certain extent a rnoniliform 

arrangement, and we then have a cystocarp but little different from that of Gracilaria, which belongs to 

the Sphærococcoideæ. On the other hand, we have the order connected with the Cryptonemieæ by 

Chrysymenia, which is now placed by Agardh in the Rhodymeniaceæ. The position of Rhodophyllis and 

Euthora is doubtful. Hero we have no distinct basal placenta, but rather a central placenta or 

carpogenic cell, reminding one somewhat of the genus Rhabdonia and its allies, which have been 

included in the Solierieæ. Euthora, at any rate, demands a more accurate study, and our own species of 

Rhodophyllis, R. veprecula, does not well correspond with the typical members of the suborder in 

relation to its cystocarpic fruit. Lomentaria and Champia agree with the Rhodymenieæ in their fruit, 

although the fronds are peculiar, and we have kept them as a division of the present. 

Tribe I. RHODYMENIEÆ proper. 

Cystocarps with a basal placenta, fronds solid. 

Fronds dichotomous or palmate..................................................... Rhodymenia. 

Fronds pinnately compound.............................................................Plocamium. 

Fronds filiform............................................................................ Cordylecladia. 

? Tribe II. RHODOPHYLLEÆ. 

Cystocarps with a central placenta, fronds membranaceous. 

Tetraspores zonate, fronds dichotomous or pinnate...................... Rhodophyllis. 

Tetraspores cruciate, fronds dentato-pinnate ........................................ Euthora. 

Tribe III. LOMENTARIEÆ. 

Cystocarps with a basal placenta, fronds tubular. 

Fronds constricted at the joints, but with no proper diaphragms, tetraspores sunk in depressions of the 

frond......................................................................................... Lomentaria. 

Fronds with numerous diaphragms, tetraspores superficial ................ Champia.

150 


RHODYMENIA, (Grev.) J. Ag. 

(From ροδεος [rodeos], red, and υµην [umen], a membrane.) 

Fronds flat, membranaceous, dichotomous or palmate, composed of an internal layer 

of large roundish-angular cells and a cortical layer of smaller cells, in some cases 

arranged in short horizontal filaments; tetraspores cruciate, either collected in 

superficial spots (sori) or scattered in the cortex; cystocarps external, sessile, with a 

distinct carpostome, spores irregularly grouped in masses attached to a basal 

placenta and surrounded by a gelatinous envelope. 

A genus which formerly was made to include a large number of flat membranous species, a large part of 

which have by recent writers been removed to other genera. We have but one species on our coast, 

Rhodymenia palmata, the common dulse, of which, unfortunately, the cystocarpic fruit is unknown, 

and the study of the fruit of the genus is out of the question with us. 

R. PALMATA, (Linn.) Grev.; Phyc. Brit., Pls. 217, 218; Ann. Sci. Nat., Vol. Ill, Ser. 4, 

Pl. 3, Fig. 8.—Dulse. 

Fronds purplish red, broadly wedge-shaped, six to twelve inches long and four to 

eight inches broad, irregularly cleft, palmate or dichotomous, sometimes repeatedly 

laciniate, the margin often winged with leaflets; tetraspores cruciate, scattered in 

patches over the frond, immersed in the cortex; cystocarps? 

Var. Sarniensis. 

Divisions very numerous, narrow, sublinear. 

On Fuci, Laminariæ, and other algæ, between tide-marks, and extending into deep 

water. 

Common from New York northward; North Atlantic; California? 

This, with Chondrus crispus, forms the only species eaten in New England. The present species, 

although one of the commonest red sea-weeds in the North Atlantic, has never been known to bear 

cystocarps, and hence the generic position is doubtful. The description given applies to the typical form, 

and although the fronds are very variable in outline, the species is easily recognized. It is sold in the 

seaport towns, where it is to be found dried on the fruit-stands of the women who sell green apples, 

corn-balls, and other dainties. It is said to possess anthelmintic properties, which, if one can judge by 

its disagreeable taste, is very probable. 

PLOCAMIUM, Lyngb. 

(From πλοκαµος [plokamos], a lock of hair.) 

Fronds compressed, membranaceous, pinnately decompound, the pinnules 

alternately secund in twos, threes, fours, or fives, composed of an inner layer of 

longitudinal, oblong cells and a cortical layer of smaller polygonal cells; tetraspores 

zonate borne in special branchlets; cystocarps


external, sessile or pedicellate, with a distinct carpostome, spores in several masses 

composed of closely packed radiating filaments borne on a basal placenta. 

A beautiful genus, comprising about twenty-five species, the most striking of which are found in 

Australia, New Zealand, and at the Cape of Good Hope. P. coccineum is very widely diffused in the 

North Atlantic and Pacific, and possibly also in the southern hemisphere; but it has only been observed 

once on the coast of New England, and that perhaps requires verification. The genus is at once 

recognized by the branching. The frond is linear and distichously pinnated, the pinnules, which are 

always alternately secund in groups of from two to five, being of two kinds; the lowest pinna is short, 

simple, and acute, while the remaining pinnæ are pinuulate or pectinate-decompound. The cystocarps 

of Plocamium are similar to those of Rhodymenia, and the zonate tetraspores are in special branchlets 

or leaflets, known as stichidia. 

P. COCCINEUM, Lyngb.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 44. 

Fronds narrowly linear, without a midrib, decompound pinnate, pinnæ alternately 

secund in threes or fours, the lowest subulate and entire, the upper pectinate on the 

upper side; conceptacles marginal, solitary, sessile; tetraspores zonate on 

divaricately branching processes borne on the inner side of the pectinated 

branchlets. 

Boston Bay, Miss Hawkshurst. 

The above-named locality, given in the Nereis, is the only one known on the New England coast, for 

this widely diffused species, if we except the vague statement of Bailey in the American Journal of 

Science, Vol. Ill, 1847, p. 84, that it has been found by Rev J. L. Russell on the coast of Massachusetts. 

One sometimes finds forms of Euthora cristata labelled P. coccineum in American herbaria. The 

common Californian form of the species is coarser than the European, and has been named by Kützing 

P. Californicum. It is not, however, distinct. 

CORDYLECLADIA, J. Ag. 

(From κορδυλη [kordyle], a club, and κλαδος [klados], a branch.) 

Fronds filiform, irregularly branched, carnoso-cartilaginous, formed of two strata of 

cells; medullary layer of oblong, longitudinal cells, cortical of roundish, colored, 

subseriated, vertical, minute cells; conceptacles sessile on the branches, 

subspherical, furnished with a cellular pericarp at length perforate, containing a 

densely packed globular mass of roundish angular spores, formed by the evolution of 

much-branched filaments issuing from a basal placenta; tetraspores immersed in the 

periphery of pod-like ramuli, oblong, cruciately parted. 

? C. HUNTII, Harv. 

“Fronds densely tufted, springing from a common, expanded, crust-like disk, livid 

purple, tereti-compressed, once or twice forked or secundly branched; branches 

subulate, alternate, acute; fruit?” (Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, p. 155.) 

Narragansett Bay, Mr. George Hunt.

152 


A species only known from the description in the Nereis, which is quoted above, and from the specimen 

in Herb. Harvey for an examination of which we are indebted to Prof. E. Perceval Wright. In the 

absence of fruit, the genus must remain in doubt, and it is hardly likely that the species, as described 

by Harvey, will be again recognized by American algologists. 

RHODOPHYLLIS, Kütz. 

(From ροδον [rhodon], a rose, and φυλλον [phyllon], a leaf.). 

Fronds membranous, dichotomously compound, with proliferous or pinnatifid 

margins, composed of an internal layer of large roundish-angular cells and a cortical 

layer of smaller cells; tetraspores zonate, immersed in the cortex of the frond or 

marginal processes; cystocarps external, subspherical, borne usually on the margin 

of the frond or on lateral processes, spores arranged around a central carpogenic cell 

in masses composed of densely packed radiating filaments, whose cells at maturity 

become irregularly placed. 

A genus comprising .about twenty species, which mostly inhabit the Australian coast. They have 

membranously expanded fronds resembling those of the genus Rhodymenia, but they are as a rule 

smaller and thinner, the internal layer consisting of usually two series of cells. The genus is 

distinguished from Rhodymenia by the zonate tetraspores, and by having the carpogenic cell or 

placenta in the center of the conceptacle instead of at its base. In the typical species of Kützing, R. 

bifida, there is, according to Dr. Bornet, a large carpogenic cell at the center of the conceptacle, around 

which the sporiferous masses are gathered, and the same is true with regard to our own Rhodophyllis 

veprecula. 

R. VERRECULA, J. Ag. (Ciliaria fusca, Rupr.—R. veprecula and Calliblepharis ciliata, 

Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, pp. 105, 152, non Calliblepharis ciliata, Kütz.) 

Fronds deep red, attached by a branching base, two to five inches long, a quarter of 

an inch to an inch and a half broad, decompoundly dichotomous, margin pinnate, 

pinnæ linear-lanceolate, ciliate, with short subulate or forked teeth; tetraspores 

zonate, borne in the cortex of the cilia; cystocarps subglobose, usually borne at the 

base of the cilia, often densely aggregated, sometimes borne on the surface of frond. 

Var. CIRRHATA, Harv. 

Fronds very narrow, dichotomous, the apices cirrhiform, repeatedly forked. 

On the larger algæ in five to ten fathoms, and rarely in deep tidepools. Autumn and 

winter. 

Campobello Island, Grand Menan, Maine, Prof. Eaton; Gloucester, Mass., W. G. F.; 

Arctic Ocean. 

The present species is a characteristic Arctic form which occurs as far south as Cape Ann, where it is 

not rare although hardly common. It is usually found washed ashore late in the autumn or in winter. It 

is recognized by its beautiful red color and frond


destitute of a midrib and with a ciliated margin. It bears a close resemblance to Caliblepharis ciliata, 

Kütz., which is a common European species, and it was introduced. Tinder that name in the Nereis, in 

which work Rhodophyllis veprecula was cited on the authority of Agardh. But subsequent observation 

and examination of the cystocarpic fruit has shown that the C. ciliata of the Nereis is the same as 

Rhodophyllis veprecula, Ag. Gobi states that R. veprecula of Agardh is the Fucus dichotomous of 

Lepechin, and he considers that C. ciliata, Kütz., should also be included with it under the name of 

Rhodophyllis dichotoma (Lepechin). We have retained the name of Agardh because we only wish to 

assert that our plant is a Rhodophyllis already described by Agardh, but do not wish to go so far as to 

express an opinion with regard to the identity of the two European plants, since we have never been 

able to examine the fruit of C. ciliata in good condition. Our form, as found on the Massachusetts coast, 

is well developed and agrees perfectly with specimens collected by Dr. Kjellman in Greenland. The 

narrow variety was found by Harvey at Halifax. In Herb. Gray is a narrow specimen from Labrador, 

marked Calliblepharis jubata, apparently in Lenormand’s handwriting. 

EUTHORA, Ag. 

(Derivation uncertain.) 

Fronds membranaceous, subdichotomously pinnate, formed internally of large 

oblong cells, between which is a network of slender branching filaments with a 

cortical layer of small cells; tetraspores cruciate, immersed in the cortex of the 

thickened apices; cystocarps external, subspherical, marginal, containing a central 

nucleus attached to the walls of the conceptacle composed of tufts of radiating 

sporiferous filaments around an ill-defined cellular placenta. 

A small genus of only two species, one of which is found in the North Atlantic and the other in the 

North Pacific. The structure of the frond in our species is peculiar and is the same as that of the genus 

Callophyllis. Between the rather large cells of the interior run small branching filaments, best seen in 

longitudinal sections. The genus is separated from Rhodymenia, in which it was formerly included, in 

consequence of the peculiar frond and cystocarp. The structure of the latter is not at all well known and 

should be studied on our coast, where there is an abundance of material. The conceptacles are small 

and are borne on the margin of the frond, and the carpostome is not at all prominent. The arrangement 

of the spores is complicated and not easily described. They are arranged in tufts of short filaments, 

radiating from a common point, and the different tufts, which are very numerous, apparently surround 

a central cellular placenta, not at all sharply defined. At any rate, there is no large carpogenic cell, 

either at the center, as in Rhodophyllis, or at the base, as in Rhodymenia, and it is by no means certain 

that the genus should be placed in the present suborder. 

E. CRISTATA, J. Ag. (Sphærococcus cristatus, C. Ag.—Rhodymenia cristata, Grev.; 

Phyc. Brit., Pl. 307.—Callophyllis cristata, Kütz.) 

Fronds rosy-red, one to five inches high, membranaceous, flabellately expanded, 

main divisions widely spreading, alternate, repeatedly subdivided, upper divisions 

alternate, linear, laciniate at the tips, with a fimbriated margin; tetraspores 

cruciate, in the thickened tips of the frond; cystocarps small, marginal, nearly 

spherical. 

On algæ, especially on Laminariæ, in deep water.

154 


Staten Island; Newport, R. I., Bailey; dredged off Napatree Point, R. I., Prof. Eaton; 

Gay Head, in eight or ten fathoms; and common from Nahant northward. 

Together with Delesseria sinuosa, this species forms the bulk of the membranaceous red sea-weeds 

collected by ladies on our northern coast for ornamental purposes. Probable in no part of the world are 

more beautiful and luxuriant specimens found than at Magnolia Cove, Gloucester, Mass. Specimens 

vary very much in breadth. Some have the main divisions an inch wide and the terminal divisions are 

densely flabellate. Others are scarcely an eight of an inch wide and the terminal divisions are rather 

diffuse, the fimbriations being prolonged into sharp teeth. The first-mentioned form approaches the 

figure in the Phycologia Britannica, while the last resembles Sphærococcus coronopifolius. The Long 

Island forms are scarcely an inch high. The species is found at all seasons of the year, and inhabits 

rather deep water, its favorite habitat being the roots of Laminariæ. 

LOMENTARIA, (Gaul.) Thuret. 

(From lomentum, a pod with constricted joints.) 

Fronds filamentous, branching, hollow, with constricted nodes, formed of one or 

more layers of roundish-angular cells with a few longitudinal filaments in the 

interior; tetraspores tripartite, borne in cavities formed by the infolding of the 

cortex; cystocarps external, sessile, containing a nucleus composed of oblong masses 

of irregularly radiating spores attached to a placenta surrounding a large basal 

carpogenic cell, which is connected with the pericarp by filaments. 

A small genus, containing species which have been placed by some writers in Chylocladia and 

Chrysymenia. As limited by Thuret, the genus includes species in which the tetraspores occupy small 

cavities hollowed out in the cortex. The development of the fronds has not been fully studied. They are 

hollow and much constricted at the joints, but in our species there are no distinct diaphragms as in 

Champia. The walls of the filaments are composed of a membrane consisting of a single layer of 

roundish-angular cells, or there are two or three layers, the outer cells being smaller than the rest. The 

inner side of the wall is traversed by long, slender filaments, to which are attached, laterally, small 

round cells, by which the filaments are attached to the walls. The cystocarps are external, and, in 

section, one sees a large basal triangular-ovoid carpogenic cell surrounded by closely packed sporiferous 

lobes, in which the cells are at first arranged in the form of densely radiating filaments, but at the time 

of maturity become irregularly placed. The pericarp is rather broadly ovate, with a distinct terminal 

carpostome, and its walls are connected with the carpogenic cell by filaments, between the bases of 

which lie the sporiferous masses, around which is a gelatinous envelope. 

L. UNCINATA, Menegh., in J. Ag., Spec. (Chylocladia Baileyana, Harv., Ner. Am. 

Bor., Part II, p. 185, Pl. 20 c.—Chylocladia uncinata, Ag., Zan. Icon. Adr., Pl. 43.— 

Chondrosiphon uncinatus, Kütz.) 

Fronds brownish red, densely tufted, two to five inches high, tubular, irregularly 

much branched, branches about one-tenth of an inch in diameter, divaricated, 

secund or scattered, often recurved, branchlets narrowly fusiform, much contracted 

at base, secund; tetraspores tripartite


in cavities on the branchlets; cystocarps sessile on the branches, ovoid, with a 

distinct terminal carpostome. 

Var. FILIFORMIS, Harv., l. c. 

Slender, elongate, with longer and less arching branches. 

On wharves, sponges, &c., below low-water mark. 

Quincy, Mass., Harvey; common from Cape Cod southward. 

A common and characteristic species of Long Island Sound, forming very densely branching tufts. The 

branches are usually arched backwards and bear secund branchlets which are much constricted at 

base. The arrangement of the tetraspores in cavities can easily be seen in fresh or alcoholic specimens, 

but not well in pressed plants. It is principally on the authority of Zanardini that our species is united 

with his C. uncinata, and as he had plenty of material for comparison his opinion is probably correct. 

The Adriatic specimens of C. uncinata which we have examined corresponded better with the var. 

filiformis than with the more common secund form of Long Island Sound. 

L. ROSEA, (Harv.) Thuret. (Chrysymenia rosea, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 358 a.— 

Chylocladia rosea, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, p. 186.) 

Fronds rose-colored, compressed, hollow, triangular in outline, main divisions simple 

or once or twice forked, one and a half to three inches long, an eighth to a quarter of 

an inch broad, tapering at the apex, pinnate with simple or pinnate, opposite, 

distichous branchlets, which are much contracted at the base; tetraspores tripartite, 

sunk in cavities in the cortex of branches. 

On stones and shells in ten fathoms. 

Portsmouth, N. H.; Newport, R. I., Harvey; Gay Head, W. G. F.; Northern Europe. 

A rare and beautiful species, easily distinguished from the last by being broader and flattened, with 

beautifully regular, opposite, distichous pinnæ. As far as we know, the cystocarpic fruit of this species 

has never been seen. It is tolerably abundant on shells of Mytilus, in company with Scinaia furcellata, 

off Gay Head. 

CHAMPIA. 

(In honor of M. Deschamps, a French botanist.) 

Fronds filamentous, branching, hollow, nodose, formed of one or more layers of 

roundish-angular cells with cellular diaphragms at the nodes, traversed internally 

by a few longitudinal filaments; tetraspores tripartite, scattered in the cortex; 

cystocarps as in Lomentaria. 

A small genus, comprising about a dozen species, most of which are tropical or Australian, our species, 

C. parvula, being the most widely diffused. The genus resembles Lomentaria very closely in the 

cystocarpic fruit. The fronds, however, are not only constricted at the joints, but are nodose throughout, 

a diaphragm composed of a single layer of cells extending across the nodes. The tetraspores are not 

contained in sunken cavities as in Lomentaria. A section of the cystocarps of C. parvula and L. 

uncinata shows the same arrangement of the spores, but in the first-named species the carpogenic cell 

is larger and projects further into the conceptacle.

156 


C. PARVULA, (Ag.) Harv. (Chylocladia parvula, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 210.—Champia 

parvula, Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, p; 76.) Pl. XV, Figs. 2,5. 

Fronds brownish red, globosely tufted, two to four inches high, intricately branching, 

branches opposite, alternate, or whorled, nodose, joints once or twice as long as 

broad, apices obtuse; tetraspores tripartite, scattered in the cortex; conceptacles 

scattered, sessile, ovoid, with a distinct carpostome. 

On Zostera and algæ below low-water mark. 

Common from Cape Cod southward; Europe; Pacific Ocean. 

A homely species, which does not collapse when removed from the water. The conceptacles are larger 

than in our species of Lomentaria, and better adapted for the study of the arrangement of the spores. 

Suborder HYPNEÆ. 

Fronds filiform or subcompressed, branching; tetraspores zonate; cystocarps 

external or partly immersed, filled with a spongy cellular mass, in which the spores 

are borne in small, scattered tufts on a branching filamentous placenta. 

A small suborder, in which the cystocarpic fruit is peculiar. Sections of the cystocarps show a loose 

cellular structure which fills the interior, and scattered through the mass are small tufts of spores 

which remind one of the cystocarps of the Gigartineæ. In the present instance, however, the spores are 

not arranged irregularly in globose groups, but they are attached to filaments which branch among the 

general cellular mass which fills the conceptacle. In the Notes Algologiques an account of the 

development of the fruit in H. musciformis is given by Bornet. 

HYPNEA, Lam.x. 

(From Hypnum, a genus of mosses.) 

Fronds filiform, virgately or divaricately branched, with subulate branchlets, 

composed of an internal layer of large roundish-angular cells, which become smaller 

outwards, and a cortex of small, colored, polygonal cells; tetraspores zonate, borne in 

swollen branchlets; cystocarps external, subglobose, borne on the branchlets, 

containing a placenta composed of filaments which form a network, to which are 

attached at intervals tufts of spores. 

A genus of about twenty-five or thirty species, most of which are tropical and rather ill-defined, since 

the sterile and fertile plants of the same species vary considerably in aspect. Most of the species have 

the tips of the branches swollen and rolled inwards. The cystocarps are peculiar, and in sections one 

sees small tufts of pyriform spores, scattered through a nearly solid tissue composed partly of a 

network of branching filaments which form a sort of placenta and partly of the cells of the frond itself. 

H. MUSCIFORMIS, Lam.x. 

Fronds filiform, purplish red, tufted, virgately branched, six to twelve


inches long, branches elongated, irregularly placed, clothed below with numerous, 

short, subulate branchlets, thickened and nearly naked near the apex, which is often 

much incurved; tetraspores zonate, borne in somewhat swollen branchlets; 

cystocarps subglobose, numerous, on divaricately branched spinescent branchlets. 

New Bedford, Mass., Harvey; Wood’s Holl, W. G. F; Orient, L. I., Miss Booth; and 

southward to the West Indies. 

In four or five fathoms of water. 

A common species of the West Indies, and probably not rare in Long Island Sound, although not very 

common. It is usually found washed ashore in sheltered places like the Little Harbor, Wood’s Holl, after 

a heavy blow, where one sometimes finds intricately twisted tufts two feet in diameter. With us 

cystocarps have not been seen, but the frond is very well developed on our coast. It may be recognized 

by the yellowish-purple color, by the long branches covered with short, subulate branchlets, and 

especially by the swollen, naked apices, which are rolled strongly inwards or almost circinate. Fertile 

specimens from the West Indies are more robust and do not so frequently have inrolled apices. The 

species does not adhere well to paper in drying. 

SUBORDER GELIDIEÆ. 

Fronds of a dense cartilaginous structure, filiform or compressed, branching; 

antheridia in superficial patches; tetraspores cruciate, borne in the cortical layer; 

cystocarps formed in swollen branches and composed of spores arranged singly or in 

short filaments on the surface of an axile or parietal placenta, carpostomes present, 

often two in number; 

Rather a small order of dark-colored, rigid sea-weeds, whose fronds are formed of densely packed cells, 

and whose cystocarps are born in swollen terminal branches, but are not strictly external. In Gelidium 

the spores are sessile on an axile placenta, and there are two carpostomes on the opposite surfaces of 

the fronds. In Pterocladia the placenta is attanched [sic] to the lateral wall of the cystocarp, the spores 

are borne few in a row, and there is but one carpostome. 

GELIDIUM, Lam.x. 

(From gelu, frost, and, secondarily, gelatine.) 

Fronds cartilaginous, terete or compressed, decompound-pinnate, formed of long 

cylindrical cells in the axis, surrounded by roundish cells which become small and 

polygonal at the surface; antheridia in superficial patches; tetraspores cruciate, 

scattered in the cortex; cystocarps immersed in swollen branchlets, containing 

oblong or pyriform spores borne on an axile placenta which is attached by filaments 

to the walls of the cystocarp; carpostomes usually one on each side of the frond. 

A genus of narrowly linear or nearly terete algæ of a dense structure, found in nearly all parts of the 

world. The limits of the species are not well marked, because the ramifications on which the principal 

specific distinctions depend are very variable. The genus is recognized on our coast by the peculiar 

cystocarps, which are formed in

158 


small branchlets, which become swollen and usually have an opening on each side for the escape of the 

spores. A longitudinal section shows an axile placenta which passes through the cystocarp, on which 

the spores are borne, not in chains but singly. Numerous filaments connect the placenta with the wall 

of the cystocarp. The account given above of the frond applies merely to what one sees in sections of the 

mature branches. A section of the younger portions shows that there is originally an axile filament, 

from which are given off other filaments which are nearly parallel to the axis, and which afterwards 

turn outwards and form the cortical layer, the cells of which they are composed becoming rounder and 

short. The genus differs from Pterocladia merely in the position of the placenta, which in the lastnamed 

genus is not central, but is attached laterally to the wall of the cystocarp. 

G. CRINALE, J. Ag., Epicr. (Gelidium corneum, var. crinale, auct.—Acrocarpus 

lubricus and crinalis, Kütz., Tab. Phyc., Vol. XVII, Pls. 32, 33.) 

Fronds cæspitose, dark purple, setaceous, one to three inches high, primary axis 

procumbent, from which arise erect, subterete, once or twice pinnate branches, 

pinnæ distichous, alternate, short, patent, acute, often pinnatifid; tetraspores 

cruciate, borne in thickened subspathulate or pinnatifid apices. 

Forming tufts on mud-covered rocks and stones at low-water mark. 

Portland, Maine; Red Hook, N. Y., Harvey; New Haven; Wood’s Holl, W. G. F.; 

Maiden, Mass., Mr. Collins; Europe; California. 

We have followed Agardh in separating the var. crinale from the polymorphic and very widely diffused 

G. corneum. The typical form of the latter occurs in Florida and on our west coast. G. crinale has been 

as yet recorded in but few localities, but it is probably common along our whole coast. It is a homely, 

insignificant species, usually not much thicker than a bristle, and forms small blackish patches on 

mud-covered rocks. 

SUBORDER SOLIERIEÆ. 

Fronds filiform or compressed; tetraspores cruciate or zonate; cystocarps immersed 

in the frond, usually prominent at one side, spores arranged in short filaments and 

arranged in tufts around a large central carpogenic cell or a central placenta, which 

is attached to the wall of cystocarp by filaments; carpostome distinct. 

A small suborder, of which we have but a single species. It is characterized by having the spores 

produced few in a row and attached either, as in Solieria and Eucheuma, to a large central cell, or, as in 

Rhabdonia, to a large cellular placenta at the center of the cystocarp. Whether Rhabdonia should be 

united in a suborder with Solieria is perhaps doubtful. By some the genus is considered to be related to 

the Rhodymenieæ, and its affinity to Rhodophyllis and perhaps Euthora is not remote. 

RHABDONIA, Harv. 

(From ραβδος [rhabdos], a wand.) 

Fronds deep red, cylindrical or nodose, branching, formed of an axis composed of 

slender, branching, longitudinal filaments surrounded by


a layer of large roundish-angular cells and a cortical layer of smaller cells; 

tetraspores zonate, scattered, immersed in the cortex; cystocarps immersed in the 

frond, and projecting at one side, opening by a distinct carpostome, inclosing tufts of 

spores arranged in short, dense filaments, surrounding a globose, cellular, central 

placenta, connected by filamentous bands with a plexus of the axial filaments which 

surrounds the sporiferous mass. 

A genus comprising from fifteen to twenty species, the greater part of which are confined to Australia, 

divided by Agardh into two subgenera, in one of which the frond is cylindrical and in the other 

constricted at intervals. Our species belongs to the first division, and the frond resembles closely that of 

Cystoclonium purpurascens, and the same is true of the tetraspores. The cystocarps are large, and 

project on one side. The genus is placed by Agardh near Solieria, but in that genus the spores are 

placed around a very large central carpogenic cell, while in Rhabdonia they are attached to a large, 

solid, central placenta formed of cells. The placenta is attached to the walls of the cystocarp by 

numerous bands of interwoven filaments, between which are the sporiferous masses, which consist at 

maturity of short filaments, whose cells are changed into spores, which are not held together by a 

gelatinous envelope as in Champia. 

R. TENERA, Ag. (Gigartina tenera, J. Ag., Symb.—Solieria chordalis, Harv. (non Ag.), 

Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, p. 121, Pl. 23 a.—Rhabdonia tenera, J. Ag., Spec.—R. Baileyi, 

Harv. MSS., Am. Journ. Science, Vol, VI, p. 39.) Pl. XIV, Fig. 2. 

Fronds deep red, from six inches to a foot and a half long, cylindrical, attached by a 

small disk, simple below, above densely branched, alterantely decompound, 

branches long, virgate, erect, tapering at the base and apex, and furnished with 

numerous, linear, fusiform branchlets; tetraspores zonate, scattered in the cortex; 

cystocarps numerous, immersed, but projecting at one side. 

In warm, quiet bays, in shallow water. 

Common from Cape Cod southward; Goose Cove, Gloucester, Mass., W. G. F. 

A characteristic species of Long Island Sound, and only known in one locality north of Cape Cod, but 

extending southward to the West Indies. It forms beautiful tufts often two feet long, in muddy places 

around wharves and in sheltered places, and is not likely to be mistaken for any other plant, except 

possibly for a large form of Cystoclonium purpurascens. The procarps consist of three cells, and from 

the innermost or that nearest the axis grows a long trichogyne, which curves round in a tortuous 

fashion, and makes .its way to the surface, reminding one of the trichogynes of Halymenia ligulata, 

figured by Bornet. The section of the cystocarp given by Harvey in the Nereis does not pass through the 

center, and the cystocarp is not a closed cavity, as supposed by Harvey, but has a distinct carpostome; 

nor are the spores pyriform and attached to separate pedicels, but they are formed from the cells of 

short filaments.

160 


SUBORDER SPONGIOCARPEÆ. 

Fronds solid, cylindrical, branching; antheridia in spots on upper part of fronds; 

tetraspores cruciate, immersed in the cortical filaments; cystocarps in external wartlike 

protuberances, composed of parallel filaments, spores obovate, densely packed 

around the surface of a cellular mass which surrounds the tip of a short pedicel. 

The present suborder was made by J. G. Agardh and Harvey to include a single species, Polyides 

rotundus, a species in several respects anomalous. The development of the cystocarps of that species 

was first made out by Thuret and Bornet, and a detailed account Was published in the Études 

Phycologiques. In its development the cystocarp of Polyides resembles that of the genus Dudresnaya. 

There is produced from the cells at the base of the trichogyne a number of filaments which wind 

amongst the short filaments, of which the wart-like bodies near the tips of the fronds are formed; These 

filaments come in contact with certain cells of the protuberances, which then divide and produce the 

spores. Although this indirect fertilization of the carpogenic cells by means of winding filaments is the 

same as is found in Dudresnaya, the mature cystocarp is different in the two genera. In Polyides the 

ripe spores are arranged in a regular layer around a small placenta, which is borne on a short pedicel 

produced from the carpogenic cell. In Dudresnaya coccinea the spores are irregularly grouped, around a 

placenta surrounding the carpogenic cell itself. In L. purpurifera, however, according to D. Bornet, the 

cystocarps more nearly resemble those of Polyides, and he thinks it not impossible to unite the two 

genera in one suborder. 

POLYIDES, Ag. 

(From πολυς [polus], many, and ιδεα [idea], form.) 

Fronds cylindrical, dichotomous, composed of interlaced branching filaments, 

consisting of elongated cells and curving outwards at the surface so as to form a 

cortical layer of horizontal filaments; antheridia in patches on the upper part of 

frond, consisting of short, densely packed filaments bearing clusters of antherozoids; 

tetraspores cruciate, immersed in the cortical layer; cystocarps in wart-like 

protuberances on the upper part of the frond. 

P. ROTUNDUS, Grev.; Phyc. Brit, Pl. 95. 

Fronds blackish red, cylindrical, cartilaginous, three to six inches long, attached by a 

disk, with an undivided stipe, which becomes above repeatedly dichotomous, apices 

obtuse; warts flesh-colored, numerous on the upper divisions of the frond. 

On stones in deep pools and in deep water. 

Common from New York northward; Europe. 

A species easily recognized by its regularly dichotomous, cylindrical frond, by its dark, almost black, 

color, and dense cartilaginous substance. When sterile it might be mistaken for Furcellaria fastigiata, a 

common species of Northern Europe, which may be expected to occur on our coast. In fruit, however, 

they are easily distinguished, since the cystocarps of Polyides are borne in external warts, while those 

of Furcellaria


are in the somewhat swollen tips of the frond. The present species is usually found washed ashore from 

deep water, but on the northern coast is found also in deep tidepools. When dried it becomes brittle and 

does not adhere to paper. 

SUBORDER SPHÆROCOCCOIDEÆ. 

Fronds cylindrical or membranaceous, substance often very delicate; antheridia 

forming superficial patches or occasionally contained in sunken cavities; tetraspores 

cruciate, zonate, or tripartite, often collected in spots (sori) on the surface; cystocarps 

external, hemispherical or flask-shaped, spores arranged in moniliform filaments, 

which radiate from a basal placenta, carpostome distinct. 

The present suborder is by Agardh and some other writers divided into two, the Sphærococcoideæ, 

which include rather coarse cartilaginous algæ, which are cylindrical or somewhat compressed, but 

hardly membranaceous, and the Delesserieæ, which are rosy-red and of delicate texture and distinctly 

membranaceous. The fruit, however, is very similar in both groups. The spores are arranged in 

subdichotomous filaments, which radiate from a basal placenta, which in some genera, as Gracilaria, 

projects far into the cavity of the cystocarp. The suborder differs from the Rhodymenieæ in that the 

moniliform arrangement of the sporiferous filaments is preserved even at maturity, and the filaments 

are distinct from one another and not held together by a gelatinous envelope. It must, however, be 

admitted that there are genera which seem to indicate a close relation between the two suborders. 

GRINNELLIA, Harv. 

(Named in honor of Mr. Henry Grinnell, of New York.) 

Fronds rosy-red, occasionally purple, delicately membranaceous, with a slender 

percurrent midrib, composed of a single layer, at the midrib of several layers, of 

large polygonal cells; antheridia in tufts on both sides of the frond; tetraspores 

tripartite, in swollen spots on the frond; cystocarps sessile on the frond, flaskshaped, 

spores in dichotomously branching filaments arising from a basal placenta. 

A genus comprising a single species, which is found from Cape Cod to Norfolk, separated from 

Delesseria because the tetraspores are formed in incrassated spots on the frond. The genus is too near 

Delesseria, of which it should perhaps form a subgenus. 

G. AMERICANA, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, Pl. 21 b. (Delesseria Americana, Ag.— 

Aglaiophyllum Americanum, Mont.— Cryptopleura Americana, Kütz.) Pl. XIII, 

Figs. 2-4. 


Fronds diœcious, four inches to a foot and a half long, one to four inches wide, 

lanceolate, tapering at the extremities, occasionally bifid or proliferous, margin 

smooth or wavy; antheridia in small spots on both sides of the frond; tetraspores 

scattered over the frond in thickened spots; cystocarps scattered, sessile, flaskshaped. 

S. Miss. 59——11

162 


On wharves, shells, stones, and sponges below low-water mark, and extending to 

several fathoms. 

Cape Cod, southward. 

This, with the exception perhaps of Dasya elegans, is the most beautiful alga of Long Island Sound. It is 

often found in tufts on wharves below low-water mark, and it flourishes in rather warm, shallow bays. 

It is met with at all seasons of the year; and, according to Miss Fisher, of Edgartown, the ladies of 

Martha’s Vineyard collect it in winter, when it is found in considerable quantities on the ice. The male 

plant is smaller than the cystocarpic, and the antheridia may be detected by the naked eye in the form 

of small, whitish, glistening spots. The walls of the conceptacles are thinner than those of Delesseria. 

The swellings in which the tetraspores are borne can hardly be called warts, and the figure given by 

Harvey in the Nereis is somewhat exaggerated. The surface of the frond is raised, and becomes more or 

less convex, but there are no such irregular projections as represented in Harvey’s figure. 

DELESSERIA, Lam.x. 

(In honor of Baron Benjamin Delessert.) 

Fronds bright red, thin, membranaceous, laciniate or branched, coatate, and often 

with lateral veins, composed of a single or a few layers of large polygonal cells; 

antheridia in spots on the frond; tetraspores tripartite, grouped in spots (sori) on the 

frond or on marginal leaflets; cystocarps external, sessile, with a basal placenta, 

from which radiate the numerous subdichotomous, sporiferous filaments. 

A beautiful genus, comprising fifty or more species, distributed all over the globe. They are of delicate 

texture and rosy-red color, and are generally leaf-like in appearance, although some are narrowly 

linear. The genus is not likely to be mistaken for any other on our coast, unless it be Grinnellia, in 

which the tetraspores are borne in thickened portions of the frond. The fronds, when young, are more or 

less leaf-like and provided with a midrib, and generally also with lateral nerves; and, as they grow 

older, they become more or less stipitate by the wearing away of the blade of the leaf, which leaves the 

thickened midrib either naked or with a small winged margin. When still more advanced, owing to the 

growth of the laciniæ and the wearing away of the lateral nerves, the stipes appear to branch and to 

bear several leaf-like fronds. In some, species the membranous portion of the fronds consists of a single 

layer of cells, which are rectangular when seen in section and polygonal seen from above. At the veins 

the cells form several layers, and in some species it is only at the tip that the fronds are formed of a 

single layer. When the cystocarps are formed, the cells are divided by numerous partitions parallel to 

the surface of the frond, and the wall of the conceptacle, when mature, consists of several layers of cells, 

all of about the same size and smaller than the cells of the frond. 

D. SINUOSA, Lam.x.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 259. 

Fronds four to eight inches long and two to four broad, stipitate below, stipe often 

elongated and branched, with oblong or obovate, deeply sinuate or pinnatifid toothed 

leaves, midrib percurrent, lateral veins opposite, extending to the laciniæ; 

tetraspores tripartite, either borne in small lateral leaflets or in patches following 

the veins; cystocarps sessile, generally on the veins, hemispherical, with a distinct 

carpostome. 

On algæ, generally in deep water.


From New Haven northward. 

One of the more common Florideæ north of Cape Cod, and not rare in the colder waters of Long Island 

and Vineyard Sounds. It is found all the year, but especially in the autumn and winter. It is at once 

recognized by the presence of a midrib and lateral veins and by its general resemblance in outline to an 

oak-leaf. 

D. ALATA, Lam.x.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 247. 

Fronds two to four inches long, an eighth of an inch wide, stipitate below, above 

pinnately decompound, divisions linear, margin entire, costate, lateral veins scarcely 

visible; tetraspores tripartite, borne in the apices of the segments or in special 

leaflets; cystocarps hemispherical, on the upper veins. 

Var. ANGUSTISSIMA, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 83. 

Fronds very narrow, blade of the leaflets almost wanting. 

From Boston northward, with the last; Europe. 

A common species of Northern New England, but not yet found south of Cape Cod. Our form is 

uniformly narrower than the common European form, and there is scarcely a trace of lateral veins. 

Hypoglossum Grayanum, Reinsch, Contributiones ad Algologiam et Fungologiam, p. 55, Pl. 42, appears 

to be the same as D. alata of the New England coast. 

D. LEPRIEURII, Mont.; Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, Pl. 22 c. (Hypoglossum Leprieurii, 

Kütz.—Caloglossa Leprieurii, J. Ag., Epicr.) 

Fronds purple, one to two inches high, about a tenth of an inch wide, dichotomous, 

articulato-constricted, costate, proliferous from the costa, segments linearlanceolate, 

attenuate, rhizoids and new leaflets formed at the constrictions; 

tetraspores tripartite, in oblique lines extending from the midrib to the margin; 

cystocarps sessile on the midrib. 

West Point, Bailey; Fort Lee, N. Y.‚ Mr. Averill; Harlem River, C. H. Peck; and 

common southward. 

This small species inhabits tidal rivers where the water is warm, and is found on wood-work, stones, 

and water-plants. It is probably not rare near New York, and on our Southern Atlantic coast it is 

common. It extends to the West Indies, and is also found in the warmer waters of both hemispheres. It 

is distinguished at once from our other species by its small size, purple color, and very thin constricted 

fronds. The species was placed by Harvey in the subgenus Caloglossa, which is separated as a distinct 

genus by Agardh in his Epicrisis. 

GRACILARIA, Grev. 

(From gracilis, slender.) 

Fronds filiform or compressed, carnoso-cartilaginous, dichotomous or irregularly 

decompound, composed of an inner; layer of large angular cells, which become 

smaller outwards, and a cortical layer of small colored cells; antheridia in cavities 

sunk in the cortex or superficial; tetraspores cruciate, dispersed in the cortical layer; 

cystocarps external, sessile, spherical or conical, with a large cellular placenta at the

164 


base, from which radiate the sporiferous filaments, pericarp thick and connected 

with the placenta by slender filaments. 

A genus containing not far from forty species, none of which really deserve the generic, name, for they 

are usually coarse and often decidedly cartilaginous. The specific distinctions are principally derived 

from the branching, which in the present genus is very variable. Some of the species, as G. lichenoides, 

are used as food. 

G. MULTIPARTITA, J. Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 15. 

Fronds purplish red, four to twelve inches long, compressed or submembranaceous, 

deeply cleft vertically in an irregularly dichotomous or palmate manner, divisions 

linear wedge-shaped, acute; cystocarps large, conical, scattered over the frond. 

Var. ANGUSTISSIMA, Harv. 

Fronds narrow, nearly filiform below, compressed above, irregularly dichotomous, 

the apices frequently palmately divided. 

On stones and on muddy bottoms below low-water mark. 

Massachusetts Bay, Harvey, and common from Cape Cod southward; Europe; 

California. 

A coarse and variable species, which is generally of a dingy purple color. The limits of the species are 

difficult to fix. Occasionally one finds with us specimens as broad as the common European form, but on 

the coast of California, and especially of Florida, one finds forms which look like large Rhodymeniæ. 

Most of our specimens are narrower than the type, and the var. angustissima of Harvey, it must be 

confessed, has more the habit of G. compressa than of G. multipartita. At Orient we have seen what we 

supposed was G. confervoides, but unfortunately our specimens were misplaced. 

SUBORDER RHODOMELEÆ. 

Fronds usually filiform and branching, sometimes membranaceous or (in exotic 

genera) reticulate; antheridia ovate or lanceolate in outline, formed by the 

transformation of monosiphonous branchlets, occasionally covering the surface of 

discoidal branches; tetraspores generally tripartite, borne either in localized portions 

of the fronds or in specially modified branches (stichidia); cystocarps external, with a 

distinct ovate or urceolate conceptacle or pericarp, spores pyriform, borne on short 

stalks given off from a basal placenta. 

The largest suborder of the Florideæ, and one containing many of the most beautiful sea-weeds. The 

suborder is mainly characterized by the cystocarpic fruit, which is external, and has the spores borne 

separately on short stalks which arise from a placenta which surrounds the carpogenic cell at the base 

of the conceptacle. In the Dasyæ, however, the filaments which bear the spores branch and fill the 

larger portion of the conceptacle, but we have not thought it advisable to separate them as a suborder. 

The antheridia, except in the genus Chondriopsis, where they assume a peculiar shape, form ovate or 

siliculose tufts, generally developed from monosiphonous branchlets or rather hairs. The position of the 

tetraspores varies in the different genera. In some cases the branchlets become broadly ovate and the 

tetraspores are


borne in parallel rows. Such collections of tetraspores are called stichidia. The fronds in the present 

suborder vary greatly. In the more beautiful genera of tropical regions they are in the form of 

complicated net-works or in membranes in which the cells are arranged in regular order, but in the 

majority of the genera the fronds are filiform and branching and generally beset, at least at some 

seasons, with delicate hairs. In most of the genera represented on our coast the fronds have a 

polysiphonous axis, that is, on cross-section there is seen to be a central cell surrounded by a circle of 

large cells, and in longitudinal sections there is a central filament composed of large cells, and on each 

side a lateral filament whose cells correspond in length to those of the central filament, the upper and 

lower walls of the three cells forming two parallel lines. 

Fronds flattened ................................................................Odonthalia. 

Fronds filiform .....................................................................................1 

1. Tetraspores borne in the smaller branches..................................2 

Tetraspores borne in stichidia ......................................................4 

2. Superficial cells small, irregularly placed ....................................3 

Superficial cells, at least in the younger branches, in transverse bands Polysiphonia. 

3. Branches filiform throughout ..................................... Rhodomela. 

Ultimate branches club-shaped, much attenuated at base. Chondriopsis. 

4.Fronds beset with monosiphonous branchlets .......................Dasya. 

Fronds without monosiphonous branchlets, superficial cells quadrate Bostrychia. 

CHONDRIOPSIS, J. Ag. 

(From χονδρος [chondros], cartilage, and οψις [opsis], an appearance.) 

Fronds brownish red, terete or subcompressed, pinnately decompound, branches 

virgate, much constricted at the base, composed of a monosiphonous axis surrounded 

by a few (4-6) siphons and surrounded by secondary siphons, cortex of small 

polygonal cells; antheridia borne in short disk-like branchlets covering both surfaces 

except at the margin; tetraspores tripartite, in club-shaped branchlets; cystocarps 

sessile, ovate, with a distinct carpostome, spores pyriform, on short pedicels from a 

basal placenta. 

A genus of which about twenty species have been described, which inhabit principally the warmer parts 

of the world, some being widely diffused. They are as a whole difficult to distinguish, the specific marks 

being principally the ramification and shape of the branchlets, points in which the different species 

vary very much. The antheridia are very peculiar. On the upper branches are borne flattened, more or 

less incurved, disk-shaped branches, whose margin is wavy. The antheridia cover both sides of these 

discoidal branches, except at the margin, which is composed of large hyaline cells. The fronds are 

intermediate between those of Rhodomela and Laurencia, and the branchlets are always much 

constricted at the base. Most of the species were formerly included by Lamouroux and others in the 

genus Laurencia. By C. A. Agardh they were, in the Species Algarum, placed in Chondria, a genus 

retained by Harvey in the Nereis. Since as originally defined the genus Chondria embraced algæ of 

rather remote relationship to one another, J. G. Agardh, in the third volume of his Species Algarum, 

separated the present group, under the name of Chondriopsis, the name Chondria being

166 


abandoned altogether. The habit of the species of the present genus is much like that of Laurencia, but 

the polysiphonous character of the fronds is more evident, the substance more delicate, and the 

branchlets more distinctly club-shaped than in that genus. As in Laurencia, the apices are all 

depressed, the growing point being sunk in a hollow concavity, from which, as well as from the younger 

part of the fronds, project numerous tufts of hyaline, dichotomous, monosiphonous filaments. 

C. DASYPHILA, Ag. (Laurencia dasyphila, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 152.) 

Fronds diœcious, four to eight inches high, broadly pyramidal in outline, cylindrical, 

robust, densely branched, generally with a percurrent axis and alternate, spreading, 

pinnately decompound branches, ultimate divisions short, club-shaped of topshaped, 

very obtuse at apex and much constricted at base; cystocarps sessile on very 

short branchlets. 

Var. SEDIFOLIA, Ag. (Chondria sedifolia, Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, Pl. 18 g.) 

Branches fasciculate, approximate, branchlets obovate-oblong. 

On rocks and stones at low-water mark, and on Zostera. 

Common from New York to Cape Cod; Europe. 

A rather coarse species which does not collapse when removed from: the water, but which glistens on 

account of the water held by the tufts of hyaline filaments at the tips of the branches. The species is 

recognized by its coarseness and broadly pyramidal outline and by its club-shaped ultimate divisions. 

The variety has rather less obtuse tips and is not uncommon. In spite of its coarseness, the species 

quickly decays in fresh water. 

C. TENUISSIMA, Ag. (Laurencia tenuissima, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 198.—Chondria 

tenuissima, Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, Pl. 18 f; Études Phycol., Pls. 43-48.) 

Fronds diœcious, four to eight inches high, narrowly pyramidal in outline, 

cylindrical, slender, rather loosely branched, with a percurrent axis and long, 

suberect, alternate, virgate, pinnately decompound branches, ultimate branchlets 

narrowly fusiform, attenuated at both extremities. 

Var. BAILEYANA. (Laurencia Baileyana, Mont., Ann. Sci. Nat., Ser. 3, Vol. II, p. 63.— 

Chondria Baileyana, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Vol. II, Pl. 18 a.—Chondria striolata, 

Farlow, List of Marine Algæ.) 

Branches erect, subsimple, beset with slender curved branchlets, which are much 

attenuated at base and blunt at the apex. 

On stones at low-water mark. 

Squam, Mass., and common in Long Island Sound; Europe. 

A variable species, distinguished from the last by its lighter yellowish color, less dense branching, and 

slender fusiform branchlets. The typical form is common with us, but not so common as variety 

Baileyana, which was considered by Agardh to be the same as C. striolata Ag. The species seems to us 

rather to be a form of C. tenuissima,


but it must be confessed approaching C. dasyphylla. Bailey was inclined to refer it to C. dasyphylla. He 

quotes Montagne, who first described the species, as Laurencia dasyphylla, as follows: 

“Notwithstanding the close affinity of this alga to Laurencia tenuissima and to L. dasyphylla, it cannot 

be confounded with either of them. The absence of ramification distinguishes it sufficiently from the 

first, and the form of the ramenta does not permit it to be referred to the second, from which it is in 

other respects quite distinct.” Just what is meant by the “absence of ramification,” by which L. 

Baileyana is to be distingished [sic] from L. tenuissima, is not easy to see. 

C. LITTORALIS, (Harv.) J. Ag. (Chondria littoralis, Ner. Am. Bor.‚ Part II, p. 22.) 

“Fronds robust, elongate, subdichotomous or irregularly much branched, branches 

flexuous, attenuated, with rounded axils, ramuli scattered or crowded, fusiform, 

attenuated at the base and apex, simple or pinnulated, acute. ” (Harvey, l. c.) 

Wood’s Holl, Mass., W. G. F. 

The description taken from the Nereis applies pretty well to a specimen collected at Wood’s Holl. We 

have seen several specimens of the species collected at Key West. It is dark colored and coarse, but has 

the branching and habit of C. tenuissima. The Key West specimens are reddish yellow, perhaps owing 

to exposure to the sun. Species of the present genus vary so much in appearance, according as they are 

more or less thoroughly “squashed” in pressing, that the determination of dried specimens frequently 

has but little value. 

C. ATROPURPUREA, (Harv.) J. Ag. (Chondria atropurpurea, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., 

Part II, Pl. 18 e.) 

Fronds four to six inches high, robust, very densely branched; branches patent, 

secondary branches tapering at the base and apex, beset with scattered fusiform 

ramuli. 

Var. FASCICULATA, Farlow. 

Secondary branches borne in clusters; cystocarps broadly ovate, sessile on short 

lateral branchlets. 

From Charleston, S. C., southward, Harvey. Var. fasciculata, Fort Hamilton, N. Y. 

The characters of the present species are not well defined. Specimens from Charleston, determined by 

Harvey himself, are robust and have the ultimate branches scattered, but unfortunately they are 

without fruit. What has been supposed to be a variety of the same species occurs rather commonly on 

the coast of California, and was distributed in the Alg. Am. Bor., No. 57. It is, however, not beyond 

question whether the form distributed should not rather have been referred to C. nidifica, Harv., 

described in the Supplement to the Nereis The plant which is here described as var. fasciculata is lessrobust 

than specimens from California and Charleston, but resembles them in the dark color and 

secondary branches which taper at both extremities. It differs from Charleston specimens in having the 

branches in tufts, in which respect it resembles some Californian specimens. Whether the New York 

form should be considered a variety of C. atropurpurea rather than C. nidifica is perhaps doubtful.

168 


ODONTHALIA, Lyngb. 

(From οδους [sic?] [odous], a tooth, αλς [als], the sea.) 

Fronds dark purple, plane, deeply distichously pinnatifid, with a rudimentary 

midrib, margin alternately toothed, formed of oblong internal cells and small 

irregularly shaped cortical cells; tetraspores tripartite, arranged in two rows in 

short, corymbose, stipitate, lanceolate branchlets (stichidia), which are marginal and 

generally axillary; cystocarps similarly placed, ovate, with a distinct carpostome and 

pyriform spores borne on a basal placenta. 

A small genus of seven or eight species, which are confined mainly to the colder waters of the northern 

hemisphere. O. dentata occurs in the North Atlantic, extending as far south as Halifax. Several other 

species inhabit the North Pacific, especially the vicinity of Kamtschatka, one species occurring as for 

south as Japan and another in California. The species are dark and opaque, and the polysiphonous 

structure is scarcely visible in the older parts of the fronds, but is clearly seen in young shoots, 

especially in adventitious growths. 

O. DENTATA, Lyngb.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 34. 


Fronds four to twelve inches long, quarter of an inch broad, decompoundly pinnate, 

branches oblong, deeply pinnatifid or bipinnatifid, laciniæ alternate, linear, sharply 

inciso dentate toward the truncated extremities; tetrasporic and cystocarpic 

branchlets clustered, axillary. 

Halifax, N. S., and several localities on the Saint Lawrence River. 

This species has not yet been found within our limits, but may be expected on the Maine coast. It is 

easily recognized by its color and ramification, and does not adhere to paper in drying. As a rule, 

American forms of this species are narrower than the common British form, but they are not distinct, 

and at Halifax the common British form was dredged by Professor Hyatt in abundance. The O. furcata 

of Reinsch, Contributiones ad Algologiam et Fungologiam, p. 58, Pl. 42 a, is apparently the common 

narrow form of the present species. 

RHODOMELA, J. Ag. 

(From ροδεος [rhodeos], red, and µελας [melas], black.) 

Fronds dark red, filiform or subcompressed, pinnately decompound, branches 

filiform, not contracted at base, composed of a monosiphonous axis surrounded by 

several siphons and a thick cortex of small, irregularly placed, polygonal cells; 

tetraspores tripartite, borne in the ultimate branches; cystocarps sessile or 

pedicellate, spores pyriform, on short stalks from the basal placenta. 

A small genus of dark-colored algæ, confined to rather high latitudes in both hemispheres. It is 

connected by the genus Rytiphlæa with Polysiphonia. The polysiphonous character of the frond is seen 

at the tip, and in most species cross-sections of the stem show a circle of large cells surrounding the 

axial cell and a thick cortical layer. When young the species are covered with dichotomous hairs. The 

genus is distinguished At sight from Chondriopsis by not having branchlets constricted at the base.


R. SUBFUSCA, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 264. 


Fronds six inches to a foot and a half long, terete, pinnately decompound, branches 

virgate, lower branchlets patent, subulate, the upper fasciculato-corymbose; 

tetraspores prominent in subtorulose branchlets; cystocarps sessile, ovato-globose. 

Var. GRACILIOR, J. Ag. (Rhodomela gracilis, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor.‚ Part II, Pl. 13 c.) 

Fronds slender; tetrasporic branches distinctly torulose. 

In deep tide-pools and at a depth of several fathoms. 

Throughout our whole limits; Europe. 

A species which varies very much with the time of year and the place of growth. It is. usually common 

in the spring months, when it is often washed ashore, and in the summer and autumn it is occasionally 

found, especially in dredging, in a denuded form, nothing remaining but the older branches, which are 

perennial and which give rise the following season to rather delicate new branches. As usually seen on 

Cape Ann the fronds are short, robust, and dark colored, even in early spring, while at Wood’s Holl and 

in Long Island Sound the common spring form is much attenuated, delicate, and of a brighter red color, 

forming the Rhodomela Rochei of the Nereis. In spite of the difference in aspect, the extreme forms are 

connected by numerous transitional stages which make it impossible to admit a specific distinction. By 

Agardh R. Rochei is considered to be the spring form of the typical R. subfusca, but we are more 

inclined to regard it as the young of the var. gracilior, which is more common south of Cape Cod, the 

type occurring northward. The species does not adhere well to paper. 

POLYSIPHONIA, Grev. 

(From πολυς [polus, many, and σιφων [siphon], a tube.) 

Fronds filamentous or subcompressed, distichously or irregularly branching, formed 

of a monosiphonous axis and several (4-20) siphons, often with secondary siphons, 

and either naked or with a cortical layer of irregular cells, furnished with numerous 

tufts of hyaline, monosiphonous, dichotomous filaments; antheridia lanceolate in 

outline, borne on the dichotomous filaments; tetraspores tripartite, in one, rarely in 

two, rows, in the slightly altered upper branches; cystocarps ovato-globose or 

urceolate; spores pyriform, on short pedicels borne around a basal carpogenic cell. 

The largest genus of Florideæ, of which more than two hundred species have been described, but not all 

of which can be considered valid. They abound in all parts of the world, especially in warm, shallow 

waters. Some are perennial, but the majority are annual and disappear during the winter. They are 

easily recognized at sight by the structure of the frond and the tetraspores, which are almost always in 

a single row in the upper branches, rarely in a double row, and not in swollen special branches or 

stichidia, as in Bostrychia, which is nearly related to Polysiphonia. The growth is from a single apical 

cell, from which is formed a monosiphonous axis. By tangential divisions of the upper cells there is 

formed a number of peripheral cells and a central

170 


cell. The peripheral cells are similar to one another and of the same length as the central cell, and, as 

the successive secondary cells lie exactly or nearly exactly over one another, the mature frond appears 

to be composed of a central filament or axis surrounded by a number of secondary filaments or siphons, 

as they are termed in speaking of the present genus and its allies. There is formed in some species a 

second set of cells alternating with the siphons, and also corticating, generally irregularly sinuous cells, 

which cover the surface. The tetraspores, according to Prof. E. P. Wright, are formed by out-growths 

from the axial cell. The antheridia are borne on the delicate, colorless filaments which form tufts on the 

younger parts of the frond. The filaments are dichotomous and the antheridia cover the lower cells of 

one of the forkings, the branch sometimes being prolonged beyond, when the antheridia are said to be 

mucronate. The cystocarps are terminal on short branches, and contain within a pericarp, whose cells 

are arranged in longitudinal series, pyriform spores on short stalks around a small basal placenta. 

Some of our species are not well defined, and a prolonged observation on the shore, especially during 

the spring months, is necessary before the limits of some species can be accurately fixed. 

SECT. I. Siphons four, cortications wanting. 

P. URCEOLATA, (Dillw.) Grev.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 167. 

Fronds deep red, becoming blackish, cæspitose, three to ten inches high, setaceous, 

branches subdichotomous, with short, alternate, patent or recurved, decompound 

branchlets, siphons four, cells below 4-5 times longer than broad, becoming shorter 

above; cystocarps on short lateral branches, urceolate, with a distinct neck; 

antheridia linear-oblong, mucronate. 

Var. FORMOSA, Ag. (Polysiphonia formosa, Phyc. Brit.) 

Filaments soft and flaccid, branches long, flexuous, branchlets somewhat 

attenuated, cells 5-10 times as long as broad. 

Var. PATENS, Grev. (P. subcontorta, Peek, Twenty-third Report New York State 

Botanist.) 

Branches numerous, recurved or revolute. 

On wharves and rocks at low-water mark. 

From New Jersey northward; Europe; California. 

A common perennial species, most abundant in the spring, when it has a deep blood-red color. It is 

frequent on old wharves and wood-work and on the under surface of rocks near low-water mark, where 

it forms small turfs, in company with Callithamnion Rothii. The var. formosa is found only in the 

spring, and is softer, forms longer tufts, and has longer cells than the type. It is the only form of the 

species which adheres well to paper or which can lay claim to beauty. It is especially luxuriant in April 

at Wood’s Holl and the region of New Bedford, and forms dense tufts sometimes a foot long. As usually 

seen in summer, the species is blackish and setaceous and covered with diatomes. The var. patens, 

which differs somewhat in general habit from the type, is not uncommon with us. Through the kindness 

of Mr. Peck, we have been able to examine a specimen of his P. subcontorta, which, judging from the 

description in the Twenty-third Report, seemed to be closely related to, if not a form of, P. Harveyi. An 

examination of the specimen, however, seems to us to show that it is var. patens of the present species, 

which it resembles in microscopic characters. 

P. subtilissima, Mont. 

Filaments densely tufted, two to four inches long, purplish brown,


rising from a creeping base, capillary, alternately decompound, branches multifid, 

attenuate, branchlets filiform, internodes once and a half as long as broad. 

Var. Westpointensis, Harv. 

More slender and delicate. 

Jackson Ferry, N. Y.; Newburyport, Mass., Harvey; Providence, R. I., Mr. Olney; 

Gloucester, Mass.? W. G. F. The variety at West Point. 

The present species is with difficulty distinguished from P. Olneyi, which, in its turn, too closely 

approaches P. Harveyi. The two last-named species are attached by a small disk, and the filaments do 

not rise from a creeping base, as in the present species. The vertical filaments of P. subtilissima are of a 

purple color, and are fine and soft, and the cells are not much longer than broad. We have seen 

specimens collected by Mr. Olney near Providence which may with certainty be referred to the present, 

and have found floating in ditches at Gloucester tufts of a very dark, delicate species which may 

probably be referred to it. The specimens were apparently washed from some muddy shore, but the 

creeping basal filaments could not be seen. Gloucester collectors should search for the plant in muddy 

ditches towards Little Good Harbor. 

P. OLNEYI, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, Pl. 17 b.—Dough Balls. 

Fronds brownish red, densely tufted, from two to five inches high, filaments 

capillary, much branched, branches patent or divaricate, decompound, attenuated 

above, with scattered slender branchlets, internodes three or four times as broad 

below, becoming shorter above; antheridia ellipsoidal, not mucronate; cystocarps 

broadly ovate, nearly sessile. 

On Zostera. 

From New York to Halifax, most common south of Cape Cod. 

The present species passes by numerous forms into P. Harveyi, and in spite of the marked difference in 

the typical forms of the two species, the question remains to be settled whether P. Olneyi is not a 

slender variety of P. Harveyi. In its typical form P. Olneyi forms dense soft tufts, sometimes called 

dough-balls by the sea-shore population. The filaments are divaricately branched below, but the upper 

branches are slender and erect and beset with fine byssoid branchlets. When old, however, the lower 

branches become rigid, and the branchlets rather spine-like, as in the next species. Both P. Olneyi and 

P. Harveyi are very common from Cape Cod to New York, growing usually on Zostera in shallow, quiet 

bays. As they mature they fall from the Zostera and are blown into small coves, the bottoms of which 

are sometimes almost carpeted with the globose tufts of these two species, which lie loosely on the 

bottom. The typical forms of the present species collapse at once when removed from the water. 

P. HARVEYI, Bail.; Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, Pl. 17 a.—Nigger Hair Pl. XV, Figs. 3, 4. 

Fronds blackish red, globosely tufted, filaments two to six inches high, setaceous, 

when young with a leading axis, becoming divaricately much branched, branches 

alternately decompound, patent, often angularly bent, beset with numerous short, 

simple or forked, spine-like

172 


branchlets, internodes all short, never more than twice as long as broad; antheridia 

ellipsoidal, not mucronate; cystocarps broadly ovate, on short pedicels. 

On Zostera and other plants. 

Common in Long Island Sound and found in several place in Massachusetts Bay; 

Goose Cove, Squam, Mass. 

The typical form of the species is closely related to P. spinulosa, Grev., found in Scotland and in the 

Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas, where, however, it does not appear to be at all common. We once 

collected specimens at Antibes, France, and certainly at first sight it could not be distinguished from P. 

Harveyi. In the typical P. Harveyi the branches are rather rigid and the branchlets are spine-like and 

sometimes revolute. As the plant grows old the finer branchlets disappear, and there is left an irregular 

mass of coarse filaments beset with revolute branchlets, forming the P. arietina of Bailey, which is in 

the Nereis considered a variety of P. Harveyi. It is, however, rather an autumnal condition than a 

proper variety. The upper portion of the fronds of P. Harveyi are sometimes slender and byssoid, and as 

it is a well-known fact that the branchlets of Polysiphoniæ have the power of falling from their 

attachments and producing new plants, it may be, as has already been suggested, that P. Olneyi is the 

byssoid condition of P. Harveyi. 

Polysiphonia Americana, Reinsch, Contrib. ad Algolog. et Fungolog., p. 50, Pl. 33 a, as far as can be 

judged by the plate, closely resembles some forms of P. Harveyi, except in the color, which as given by 

Reinsch is bright pink. It is said by Reinsch to resemble P. arietina, Bailey, in general appearance, but 

to differ in the erect, subdichotomous filaments, whose joints are bicellular. 

SEC. II. Siphons four, main branches corticated, ultimate branches without 

cortication. 

P. ELONGATA, Grev.; Phyc. Brit., Pls. 292, 293.—Lobster Claws. 

Fronds dark red, six to twelve inches long, robust, cartilaginous, irregularly 

branched, lower branches naked, upper beset with closely set, alternately multifid 

branchlets, which taper at the base and apex, cortications covering all but the 

younger portions of frond, section of branches showing four large siphons, with 

secondary siphons and a rather thick cortex; cystocarps ovate. 

Gloucester, Lynn Beach, Squam, Wood’s Holl, Gay Head, Mass. 

One of the largest but less common Polysiphoniæ, which is more abundant in the spring than at any 

other season. The species is perennial and in late summer and autumn the branchlets fall off, leaving 

the lower and coarser branches, which persist through the winter, and in the following spring produce 

at the apices tufts of delicate, deep-red branchlets. It is recognized by its long cartilaginous main 

branches, which are nearly naked, and which bear tufts of filaments at the apex. The popular name of 

lobster claws is tolerably appropriate. 

P. FIBRILLOSA, Grev.; Phyc. Brit, Pl. 302. 

Fronds brownish yellow, four to ten inches high, broadly pyramidal, rather robust 

below, becoming slender above, with an undivided axis or divided near the base into 

several long, main branches, secondary branches alternate, several times pinnate, 

fibrillose, with short, scattered‚


simple branchlets, ultimate divisions capillary, tufted; antheridia oblong, terminal; 

cystocarps ovate. 

On stones and Zostera at low-water mark. 

Lynn, Mass., Harvey; Wood’s Holl, Noank, Orient Point, Newport, and several places 

in Long Island Sound; Europe. 

Rather a common species in sheltered places south of Cape Cod, but only known northward from the 

reference of Harvey. It is smaller and more slender than the last species and the branches are not 

naked, but fibrillose. The present species is more nearly related to P. violacea, of which Harvey 

suggests that it may be a variety. The last-named species is more decidedly red in color, is a larger 

plant, and although the ultimate branches are in tufts, as in P. fibrillosa, the larger branches are 

destitute of the fibrillose branchlets characteristic of the latter species. 

P. VIOLACEA, Grev.; Phyc. Brit, Pl. 209. 

Fronds brownish red, six inches to two feet long, elongated, pyramidal, usually with 

an undivided main axis, which has several long, widely spreading branches near the 

base, main divisions robust, becoming capillary at the tops, branches rather naked 

below, bearing above numerous multifid branchlets, ultimate branchlets densely 

tufted; antheridia? cystocarps broadly ovate, sessile or shortly pedicelled. 

Var. FLEXICAULIS, Harv. 

Branches very long, slender, angularly bent, much divided, divisions patent and 

sometimes secund. 

In deep tide-pools on exposed shores and on Zostera in deep water. 

Common from New York northward. Var. flexicaulis. Cape Ann; Portland, C. B. 

Fuller; and northward. 

One of the commonest species of the genus, frequenting cold, exposed tide-pools, where it has a dense 

habit and rarely exceeds a foot in length. When growing in deep water it is long and slender. In spring 

it has a pink color, but late in the season it becomes dark colored, almost blackish. Specimens of the 

present species are sometimes found in American herbaria bearing the name of P. Brodiæi, a species 

having six siphons, which has not as yet been detected with certainty on our coast. The P. Brodiæi of 

Bailey’s List of United States Algæ is, according to Harvey, P. fibrillosa. 

SECT. III. Siphons more than four, corticating cells wanting. 

P. VARIEGATA; Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 155; Ann. Sci. Nat., Ser. 3, Vol. XVI, Pl. 6. 

Fronds purplish brown, densely tufted, four to ten inches high, filaments setaceous 

and rigid below, capillary above, dichotomo-multifid, the lower axils patent, 

branches above somewhat zigzag, elongated, with alternately decompound, flaccid 

branchlets, siphons six in number, cortications wanting, internodes not much longer 

than broad; antheridia linear-oblong, mucronate; cystocarps ovate, short-stalked. 

At the foot of wharves, on Zostera, &c.

174 


Massachusetts Bay, Harvey; common from Cape Cod to the West Indies; Europe. 

A beautiful summer species, forming large purple tufts on wood-work and various substances a short 

distance below low-water mark in warm, sheltered waters. The lower branches are rigid and widely 

spreading, but the tips are byssoid and collapse on being removed from the water. When mounted on 

paper small specimens have a slight resemblance to P. Olneyi, but the species is coarser, and the 

siphons are six instead of four in number. 

P. PARASITICA, Grev.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 147. 

Fronds dark brownish red, one to three inches high, filaments compressed, 

decompound-pinnate, branches alternate, distichous, 2-3 pinnate, ultimate divisions 

erecto-patent, subulate, acute, internodes about as long as broad, siphons 8-9, 

cortications wanting; cystocarps ovate, on short stalks. 

Providence, R. I., Harvey; Europe; California. 

A small species, said to have been collected by Mr. Hooper on the authority of Harvey. It differs from 

our other species in the compressed frond and uniformly distichous arrangement of the branches. In 

aspect it looks more like a fine Ptilota than a Polysiphonia. In drying it does not adhere well to paper. 

In California the species is rather common, especially the large variety dendroidea. 

P. ATRORUBESCENS; Grev.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 172. 

Fronds tufted, dark red, two to twelve inches long, filaments setaceous, rather rigid, 

branches long, erect, alternately decompound, with scattered, simple or virgately 

tufted branchlets, which taper at the base and apex, siphons usually 12, spirally 

twisted, articulations generally 2-3 times as long as broad; antheridia oval, terminal; 

cystocarps broadly ovate, sessile. 

In deep water and washed ashore. 

Gloucester, Mrs. Davis; Gay Head, Mass., W. G. F.; Fisher’s Island, Prof. Eaton; 

Orient, L. I., Miss Booth; Noank, W. G. F; Little Compton, R. I., and Long Branch, N. 

J., Harvey; Europe. 

One of our less common species, recognized by the number of siphons, which are usually spirally 

twisted, and by the long branches, which bear small branchlets that taper at both extremities. Late in 

the season one finds denuded, rigid specimens, which bear little resemblance to the form found early in 

the season. It does not adhere well to paper in drying, and becomes quite black in the herbarium. 

P. NIGRESCENS, Grev. 

Fronds dark brown, three to twelve inches long, rigid below, becoming flaccid and 

much divided above, branches alternate, decompound-pinnate, ultimate branches 

subulate, siphons 12-16, articulations about 1 1 /2-3 times as long as broad; antheridia 

lanceolate, mucronate; cystocarps ovate, subsessile.


Var. FUCOIDES, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 277. 

Fronds robust and naked below, upper branches pectinate or corymbose, 

articulations but slightly longer than broad. 

Var. AFFINIS, Ag.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 303. 

Fronds elongated, diffusely branching, branches distant, undivided below, densely 

pinnate at the tip, articulations two or three times as long as broad. 

In tide-pools and below low-water mark on stones and algæ. 

Common along the whole coast. 

One of our commonest and least beautiful species, which, although very variable, is generally easily 

recognized. In the Nereis, Harvey describes seven forms found on our eastern coast. Practically, the 

species as found with us is recognized under two principal forms. The first is rather robust, and has 

branches which are more or less pectinate or corymbose, and in the extreme forms, as var. Durkeei, 

Harv., l. c., Pl. 17 c, they are compressed, and the pinnæ are distichous and abbreviated. The second 

form of the species is represented by the P. affinis of the Phycologia Britannica, in which the main 

branches are much elongated and more delicate than in var. fucoides, and the ultimate divisions are 

arranged in pyramidal tufts. Between the two types described occur innumerable forms which hardly 

require a further description. 

P. FASTIGIATA, Grev.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 299. 

Fronds dark brown, forming globose tufts one to three inches in diameter, filaments 

rigid, of nearly the same diameter throughout, repeatedly dichotomous, fastigiate, 

apices subulate, spreading, occasionally forcipate, siphons averaging about 20, 

articulations decidedly broader than long; antheridia oval, in dense terminal tufts; 

cystocarps ovate, taking the place of a terminal dichotomy. 

On Ascophyllum nodosum. 

Common from New York northward; Europe. 

A very common species, at once recognized by its form and place of growth. It forms tufts on Fucus 

(Ascophyllum) nodosus and, according to Harvey, on F. vesiculosus. Its color is so dark that one at first 

sight would hardly suppose it to be one of the Florideæ. The filaments are rigid, and the plant does not 

collapse in the least when removed from the water, nor does it adhere to paper in drying. The 

antheridia are very abundant early in the season. The species, like most of the genus found on our 

coast, is diœcious, but occasionally one finds both sexes on the same individual. In this connection, it 

would be well to inquire if there is not a proterandrous condition among the Florideæ, as in the higher 

plants. It has seemed to us that such a condition may exist in P. variegata, and possibly in the present 

species. P. fastigiata is said to have been collected in California, but the locality is doubtful. It has been 

found also in Australia and New Zealand. 

BOSTRYCHIA, Mont. 

(From βοστρυχιον [bostrychion], a small curl.) 

Fronds dark purple, compressed or filiform, distichously or irregularly branching, 

composed of several (4-11) cells (siphons) arranged around a central filament, the 

siphons either naked or corticated with subcubical cells, apices usually 

monosiphonous; tetraspores tripartite,

176 


in a double row in terminal fusiform branches (stichidia); cystocarps terminal on the 

branches, ovate, with a distinct carpostome, spores pyriform, attached to short 

filaments which are given off from a basal placenta. 

A genus of about twenty species, characterized by their lurid purple color and by growing in places 

where the water is not very salt, some species, it is said, even growing in freshwater. They inhabit 

principally the tropics. The genus is intermediate between Polysiphonia and Dasya, and some species 

have been previously referred to Rhodomela. The tetraspores are in stichidia, as in Dasya, but the 

cystocarpic spores seem to us more nearly like those of Polysiphonia. The frond is originally 

monosiphonous, and soon becomes polysiphonous, the number of siphons not being as constant as in 

Polysiphonia. The corticating cells, when present, are regularly arranged in transverse bands. The 

development of the frond has been studied in detail by Dr. Ambronn in B. scorpioides. 

B. RIVULARIS, Harv., Ner. Am. Bor., Part II, Pl. 14 d. 

Exs.—Alg. Am. Bor., Farlow, Anderson & Baton, No. 54. 

Fronds an inch high, capillary, rising from a procumbent base, branches flexuous, 

bipinnate, pinnæ distichous, alternate, patent, loosely pinnulate, pinnules subulate, 

section of main branches showing about seven siphons; tetraspores cruciate, in two 

rows in oblong stichidia below the tips; cystocarps ovate, terminal on the shortened, 

naked, lower pinnæ. 

On submerged logs in patches. 

Hell Gate, N. Y., Harvey; Fort Lee, N. Y., Mr. Averill; College Point, Astoria, C. H. 

Peck; common southward; Australia. 

A common species from Charleston, S. C., southward, but only occasionally found with us. The only 

certain localities are near New York City, and it is extremely doubtful whether it was ever found in the 

arctic waters of the Isle of Shoals, where it was reported by Captain Pike. The species is small and 

rather insignificant, but is easily recognized by its polysiphonous structure and ramification. There are 

no cortications, and the species belongs to the subgenus Stictosiphonia. 

DASYA, Ag. 

(From δασυς [dasys], hairy.) 

Fronds bright red, filiform or compressed, distichously or irregularly branching, 

composed of a monosiphonous axis surrounded by several (4-12) siphons, often 

corticated with irregularly shaped cells, clothed in the upper part or throughout with 

colored, monosiphonous, dichotomous branchlets; antheridia in siliculose tufts on 

the branchlets; tetraspores tripartite, borne in regular rows in lanceolate or ovatelanceolate 

enlargements of the branchlets; cystocarps ovate, acuminate, sessile or 

pedicellate, spores terminal on branching filaments arising from a basal placenta. 

A large and beautiful genus, including about seventy species, of which the greater part


are tropical, Australia being especially rich in species. The genus is divided into a number of subgenera, 

and is connected by Bostrychia and Tænioma with Polysiphonia. The tetraspores are in stichidia borne 

on the hair-like branchlets, while in Bostrychia they are in the polysiphonous branches, and in 

Tænioma the stichidia are formed from the flattened and scarcely altered branches. The cystocarps are 

borne on short lateral branches, which are usually slightly prolonged beyond the base of the cystocarp. 

The placenta of Dasya differs somewhat from that of Polysiphonia and our other genera of Rhodomeleæ. 

The spores are pyriform, but are borne on rather long branching filaments which surround the 

carpogenic cell at the base of the conceptacle, and which rise high up in its interior instead of being 

nearly sessile around the carpogenic cell, as in Polysiphonia. The development of the cystocarp has 

been studied in detail by Janczewski in D. coccinea. The fronds are either filamentous or more or less 

flattened, and, as in the case with most of the suborder, are formed from a monosiphous axis, from the 

cells of which whorls of filaments are given off, which in the older parts of the frond become parallel to 

the axis and replace the siphons of Polysiphonia. In most of the genus there are also secondary siphons 

and corticating cells, and either at the tip or throughout the frond tufts of delicate, dichotomous, 

monosiphonous branchlets, which are colored and not hyaline, as in the hairs of some other genera. 

D. ELEGANS, Ag., Sp. Alg. (Rhodonema elegans, Martens.—Dasya pedicellata, Ag., 

Syst.; Bailey, in Am. Journ. Sci., Vol. Ill, p. 84.)—Chenille. Pl. XV, Fig. 1. 


Fronds diœcious, villous, lake-red, six inches to three feet long, cylindrical, attached 

by a small disk, alternately 1-3 pinnate, with a percurrent axis, densely clothed 

throughout with tufts of purple, capillary, monosiphonous, dichotomous branchlets, 

sections of branches showing five cells around the axial cell; antheridia densely 

covering the lower cells of one of the divisions of the branchlets; tetraspores in two or 

three rows in linear-lanceolate or ovate pointed stichidia on the branchlets; 

cystocarps sessile on very short branches (pedicels) which are borne on the main 

branches. 

On Zostera, wharves, &c., below low-water mark. 

Common from Cape Cod southward; Adriatic Sea. 

A beautiful species, known to lady collectors by the name of chenille, at once recognized by its long, 

cylindrical, branching fronds, densely fringed with fine lake-colored filaments. It is found throughout 

the year. In drying it adheres closely to paper. The antheridia are much like those of Polysiphonia 

variegata, but are longer. The species extends to the West Indies, but appears to be more common in 

Long Island Sound than elsewhere. There is in the collection of the Peabody Academy of Salem a very 

large specimen, said to have been collected at Ipswich Beach, Mass., but the locality must be regarded 

as doubtful. At any rate, the species is quite unknown elsewhere north of Cape Cod. 

SUBORDER CORALLINEÆ, Decaisne. 

Fronds rose-colored or purple, calcareous, horizontally expanded or erect and 

branching, crustaceous, foliaceous, or filiform, continuous or 

S. Miss. 59——12

178 


articulated; antheridia, carpospores, and tetraspores borne in distinct cavities 

(conceptacles), which are either external or immersed in the fronds; antherozoids 

spherical, attenuated at one end, or provided with two short projections borne on 

short filaments at the base of the male conceptacles; carpospores pyriform, 

terminating short filaments which surround a tuft of paraphyses at the base of the 

female conceptacles; tetraspores zonate, occasionally binate. 

The present order includes all the calcareous Florideæ except a comparatively few species which belong 

to the Nemalieæ and Squamarieæ. Although classed by the earlier writers with the corals rather than 

plants, the species of Corallineæ are now placed at the head of the Florideæ, in consequence of their 

highly differentiated organs of fructification. Our knowledge of the fructification of the Corallineæ is 

derived principally from the Études Phycologiques of Thuret and Bornet and the Recherches 

Anatomiques sur les Melobésiées of Rosanoff. Thuret and Bornet describe three different forms of 

conceptacle, containing, respectively, the antheridia, the carpospores, and the tetraspores, the last only 

being mentioned by Harvey in the Nereis. The tetraspores, which are much more common than the 

carpospores, are usually zonate, although occasionally binate, and from the fact that they are borne in 

distinct conceptacles, which is not the case with the other Florideæ, it had erroneously been considered 

that the carpospores of the Corallineæ were four-parted. The cystocarpic spores, or carpospores, are 

always pyriform and undivided, and accompanied by paraphyses. The number of trichogynes is large, 

and they project in a tuft at the orifice of the conceptacle at the time of fertilization. The antherozoids 

differ from those of the other Florideæ in having appendages. 

The Corallineæ abound in the tropics, and but few representatives are found in northern seas. Our own 

coast is especially poor in species. The study of the development of the plants of this order is difficult, 

owing to the calcareous deposit, and soaking in acid injures the more delicate parts. The species are 

nearly all fragile when dried, and it is not easy to preserve herbarium specimens in good condition. The 

suborder may be divided into two tribes. The Corallineæ proper have articulated fronds, which rise 

vertically from the substratum, as is seen in our common Coralline. The Melobesieæ are not articulated, 

but form irregular horizontal crusts, which sometimes rise in irregular erect branches. 

Fronds erect, filiform, articulated .......................................................Corallina. 

Fronds horizontally expanded or vertical and inarticulate. 

Fronds horizontal .............................................................................. Melobesia. 

Fronds rising in irregular protuberances from a horizontal base, 

........................................................................................Lithothamnion. 

CORALLINA, Lam.x. 

(From κοραλλιον [korallion], a coral.) 

Monœcious or diœcious, fronds arising either from a calcareous disk or from 

interlaced filaments, erect, terete or compressed, articulated, branched, branches 

opposite, pinnate; conceptacles terminal, naked or occasionally with two horn-like 

appendages. 

A genus comprising about thirty to thirty-five species, mostly tropical, C. officinalis, C. squamata, and 

a few others extending high northward. The fronds of Corallina are formed of a bundle of dichotomous 

parallel filaments, whose external branches grow


obliquely out wards to form the cortical layer. The increase in the length of the frond arises from the 

elongation of the central bundle of filaments. The whole plant is covered by a dense cuticle. The 

conceptacles are formed from the terminal cells of the filaments just mentioned, which cease elongating 

and lose their calcareous incrustation, the cuticle also falling away. The peripheral filaments, at the 

same time, continue to elongate and project beyond the central bundle of filaments, thus forming the 

wall of the conceptacle. 

C. OFFICINALIS, L.; Phyc. Brit., Pl. 222.—Common Coralline. 

Diœcious, fronds two to six inches high, arising in dense tufts from a calcareous 

disk, decompound-pinnate, lower articulations cylindrical, twice as long as broad, 

upper articulations obconical or pyriform, slightly compressed, edges obtuse; 

conceptacles ovate, borne on the ends of the branches, or some of them 

hemispherical and sessile on the articulations. 

Var. PROFUNDA, Farlow. 

Fronds elongated, with few, irregular branches. 

Common in tide-pools; the variety in deep water. 

Europe; North Pacific? 

The only species known on our coast, often lining the bottoms of pools, and when exposed to the sun 

becoming white and bleached. C. squamata, which is monœcious, and has a filamentous base, and 

whose upper articulations are compressed with sharp edges, especially on the upper side, is a common 

species of Northern Europe, and may be expected with us. 

MELOBESIA, Aresch. 

(Possibly from µελιβοια [meliboia] or µηλοβοσις [melobosis], the daughter of Oceanus.) 

Fronds calcareous, horizontally expanded, orbicular, becoming confluent and 

indefinite in outline, conceptacles external or immersed; antherozoids spherical, 

furnished with one or two short projections; tetraspores either two or four parted, 

borne sometimes in conceptacles having a single orifice, at other times in 

conceptacles having several orifices. 

The limits of the three genera Melobesia, Lithophyllum, and Lithothamnion are not well defined. In M. 

Thuretii, Bornet, the plant consists merely of a few short filaments, which are buried in the substance 

of Corallina squamata and several species of Jania, upon whose surface the conceptacles of the 

Melobesia are alone visible. From this species, in which the frond may be said to be rudimentary, we 

pass through forms in which the frond is in the form of calcareous crusts or plates till we meet heavy, 

irregularly branching forms, which resemble corals much more than plants. In the present paper, 

Melobesia, including Lithophyllum of Rosanoff, comprehends all the smaller and thinner forms in 

which the frond does not rise in the form of irregular tubercles or branches, while in Lithothamnion are 

placed the branching and heavier species, referred by the older writers, as Linnæus, Ellis and Solander, 

Lamarck, and others, to Millepora or Nullipora, and by Kützing to Spongites. Our common species, L. 

polymorphum, which does not often branch, shows the insufficient basis on which the genera of this 

group rest. Although there is considerable diversity in the structure of the fronds, the organs of 

fructification, with some slight modifications of the antherozoids and tetraspores, are the same as in 

Corallina and Jania. The most detailed account of the

180 


frond in the Melobesioid group is that given by Rosanoff in his work already referred to. According to 

Bornet, however, the cystocarpic fruit of the Melobesiæ escaped the observation of Rosanoff, and what 

the latter called cystocarps were only a form of the non-sexual or tetrasporic fruit. The tetraspores are 

found in two different forms—either in hemispherical conceptacles, which have a single central orifice 

of good size, at whose base the spores are borne around a central tuft of paraphyses, or else in 

truncated conceptacles, whose flattened upper surface is perforated with numerous orifices, beneath 

each one of which is a tetraspore, separated from its fellows by a large, colorless cell. 

The fronds of the smaller species of Melobesia, as M. Lejolisii and M. farinosa, consist of two portions, 

the basal and the cortical. The former consists of a single layer of cells, which arise from the division of 

the spore into four cells and subsequent marginal growth. The cortical layer in the smaller species is 

composed of small cells cut off by oblique partitions from the upper part of the basal cells. In the larger 

species of Melobesia, more particularly those placed in the subgenus Lithophyllum, the cortical layer is 

much more marked, and the cells of which it is composed seem to be arranged in lines which are curved 

at the base, but are straight above and at right angles to the direction of growth. In some of the small 

species of Melanesia certain of the basal cells elongate and swell at the summit, so that when seen from 

above they look larger than the neighboring cells. Rosanoff applied to such cells the name of 

heterocysts, a word badly chosen, since the heterocysts in the Nostochineæ, where the term was first 

employed, cannot well be compared with the heterocysts in Melobesia. The conceptacles in all our 

species of Melobesia are external. The form generally found is that which contains the tetraspores. Our 

species all occur in Europe, and it is very probable that the remaining Northern European forms not 

yet recorded with us will be found on further search. 

a. Species small, growing on plants, basal stratum well marked, cortical layer 

imperfectly developed. 

M. LEJOLISII, Rosanoff. (M. membranacea, Aresch., in Agardh’s Spec. Alg.; Harvey, 

Phyc. Brit., Pl. 347, in part.—M. farinosa, Kütz., Spec. Alg.; Le Jolis’s Liste des 

Algues.—M. Lejolisii, Rosanoff, l. c., p. 62‚ Pl. 1, Figs. 1-12.) 

Fronds thin and brittle, at first orbicular but soon densely confluent, forming scaly 

patches of indefinite extent; heterocysts wanting, basal cells squarish, cortical cells 

few and indistinct; tetrasporic conceptacles very numerous, approximate, flattenedconvex, 

orifice ciliated; tetraspores four-parted; antheridia and cystocarps? 

On leaves of Zostera. 

Wood’s Holl, Mass.; common from Nahant northward; Europe. 

A species which is certainly common on eel-grass on the northern coast and probably equally abundant 

in Long Island Sound, although definite information on this point is wanting. This is the form which is 

found in American herbaria bearing the name usually of M. farinosa or M. membranacea. The orbicular 

character of the fronds soon disappears, as they are found in great numbers, and at an early stage 

become confluent. The conceptacles are so numerous that at times very little of the fronds themselves 

can be seen. The latter easily crumble and fall from the plant on which they are growing. 

M. FARINOSA, Lam.x. (M. farinosa, Aresch., in Agardh’s Spec. Alg., non Le Jolis’s 

Liste des Algues.—M. farinosa and M. verrucata? Harvey, in part.—M. farinosa, 

Lam.x., in Rosanoff, l. c.‚ p. 69‚ Pl. 2, Figs. 2-13.)


Fronds thin, orbicular, becoming confluent, distinctly zonate; heterocysts present, 

basal cells elongated-rectangular, cortical cells semicircular or triangular seen from 

above; tetrasporic conceptacles small, hemispherical, orifice not plainly ciliate; 

tetraspores four-parted; antheridia and cystocarps? 

On Fucus vesiculosus. 

Wood’s Holl, Mass; in all parts of the world. 

Although only one locality is mentioned, the species probably occurs throughout our limits. It is 

distinguished from the last by the shape of the conceptacles and the absence of a circle of cilia around 

the orifice. The fronds are larger and more frequently orbicular, although scarcely thicker than in M. 

Lejolisii. In both species the calcareous incrustation is somewhat farinaceous as compared with the 

following, in which the incrustation is smoother and solid. M. membranacea, Lam.x. related to M. 

farinosa, but destitute of heterocysts and having tetrasporic conceptacles with several orifices, is to be 

expected on algæ of our coast. 

M. PUSTULATA, Lam.x. (M. pustulata, Phyc. Brit., Pl. 347 d; Rosanoff, l. c., Pl. 4, 

Figs. 2-8.) 

Fronds rather thick, circular, becoming reniform or orbicular, indistinctly zoned; 

heterocysts wanting, basal cells elongated vertically, cortical cells squarish; 

conceptacles large, hemispherical, orifice naked; tetraspores four-parted. 

Probably common on the larger algæ along the whole coast, but being undistinguishable from the next 

species when sterile, one cannot be sure of the species unless it is in fruit. The tetraspores of M. 

pustulata are zonately four-parted, while those of M. macrocarpa are merely two-parted at maturity. In 

both species the fronds are rather thick and solid and do not crumble, as in the two preceding species, 

and the orbicular shape is preserved for a longer time. 

M. MACROCARPA, Rosanoff. (M. macrocarpa, l. c.‚ p. 74, Pl. 4, Figs. 2-8 and 11-20.) 

Fronds as in M. pustulata; tetraspores large, two-parted. 

On Chondrus. 

Gloucester, Mass.; Europe. 

b. Species rather large, growing on stones and shells, cortical stratum well 

developed. 

M. LENORMANDI, Aresch. (Lithophyllum Lenormandi, Rosanoff, l. c., p. 85, Pl. V, 

Figs. 16,17; Pl. VI, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5.) 

Fronds saxicolous, closely adherent to the substratum, suborbicular, Becoming 

squamulose-imbricate, slightly zonate, margin crenate, lobed; tetraspores fourparted, 

in compressed, hemispherical conceptacles, with numerous orifices; 

antheridia and cystocarps? 

On stones. 

Gloucester, Mass.; Europe. 

Apparently common in many places, but fruiting specimens were only collected at

182 


Gloucester. The fronds form rose-colored crusts of considerable extent, and are so closely adherent that 

they can scarcely be removed. The tetrasporic conceptacles are large, but very much flattened. 

LITHOTHAMNION, Phil. 

(From λιθος [lithos], a stone, and θ µνιον [sic] [thamnion], a bush.) 

Fronds calcareous, thick, at first horizontally expanded, but afterwards producing 

erect knobs or coralloid branches; otherwise as in Melobesia. 

A genus comprising probably not more than twenty or twenty-five good species, most of which are 

tropical. The larger and more solid forms inhabit deep water. In Lithothamnion the cortical portion is 

markedly developed, and it not rarely happens that new lobes are produced which overlap the older 

ones and form an imperforate layer over the older conceptacles, which are thus occluded before the 

spores are ripe. In such cases sections show conceptacles which are apparently buried in the central 

part of the frond. 

L. POLYMORPHUM, (L.) Aresch. (Millepora polymorpha, L.; Sp. Alg.—Millepora 

(Nullipora) informis, Lamarck.—Melobesia polymorpha, Harvey‚ Phyc. Brit., Pl. 

345.) 

Fronds thick and stony, purplish, becoming whitish, forming incrustations of 

indefinite extent and occasionally rising in thick clumsy lobes, punctate throughout 

with the very numerous, small, immersed conceptacles; antherozoids spherical, with 

an appendage at one end (Bornet); tetraspores two-parted; cystocarps? 

On rocks and stones in deep pools and below low-water mark. 

Common from Nahant northward. 

Not known with certainty south of Cape Cod, but very common northward, where it forms stony, 

purplish incrustations on rocks. As usually seen, it adheres closely to the rocks, covering patches of 

indefinite extent, and would be mistaken for a species of Melobesia. It is so hard and adherent that it is 

mistaken by persons on the shore for a part of the rock itself. Although the determination of the present 

species admits scarcely a doubt, the form usually found with us is smoother and less lobed than 

European specimens of the same species. In the description given above the tetraspores are said to be 

two-parted. This is true of all the American specimens examined, but it may be that what we have seen 

were immature spores, which, when ripe, are four-parted. 

L. FASCICULATUM, (Lamarck) Aresch. (Millepora fasciculata, Lamarck.—Melobesia 

fasciculata, Harv., Phyc. Brit., Pl. 74.) 

Fronds purple, stony, attached, afterwards becoming free, very irregular in outline, 

densely branching, branches fastigiate, subcylindrical, apices generally depressed; 

tetrasporic conceptacles densely covering the branches, flattened, hemispherical; 

tetraspores two-parted. 

On stones or in free globose tufts at low-water mark and in deep water. 

Eastport, Maine; Europe.


Rather common at Eastport, where it is often dredged. It is also found at low-water mark during the 

spring tides, especially on Clark’s Ledge. Small forms of what may be the same species are occasionally 

washed ashore after storms as far south as Nahant. The species is at once distinguished from all our 

other forms by the very numerous, short, stout, cylindrical branches. The conceptacles are external and 

contain two-parted spores, which may possibly be later four-parted, although in the specimens we have 

examined they seemed to be quite mature. The conceptacles, as far as could be made out, had no 

distinct orifice, and were very much flattened externally. 

To follow Stilophora, page 89: 

ADDENDA. 

ARTHROCLADIA, Duby. 

Fronds olive-brown, filiform, branching, composed of a large central filament formed 

of cylindrical cells and a series of polygonal cortical cells, which become smaller 

towards the surface; plurilocular sporangia moniliform, borne on branching 

monosiphonous filaments which form tufts on the branches. 

A small genus, consisting of a single species, which has been divided by Kützing into three, 

characterized by the tufts of monosiphonous filaments which bear the sporangia, and which are 

arranged in whorls, giving the fronds a nodose appearance. Harvey and Agardh place the genus in the 

Sporochnaceæ, while Le Jolis places it in a special suborder of Phæosporeæ. 

A. VILLOSA, Doby. [sic] (Sporochnus villosus, Ag., Sp. — Elaionema villosum, Berk.) 

Fronds six inches to three feet long, delicately filiform, with a percurrent axis and 

usually opposite, widely spreading, 1-2 oppositely pinnate branches; fructiferous 

filaments byssoid, in dense penicillate tufts which form irregular whorls; 

plurilocular sporangia moniliform, composed of numerous cells, about 15-20 in a 

row, generally secund on the branches of fructiferous filament; unilocular sporangia? 

Washed ashore at Falmouth Heights, Mass., Mr. F. T. Collins; Cape Fear. 

A rare species, only known on the New England coast from the specimens collected by Mr. Collins, 

which were rather smaller than European specimens. The species bears a more or less considerable 

resemblance to Desmarestia viridis, but the penicillate tufts are more regularly arranged in whorls, 

and bear the sporangia, which is not the case in the genus Desmarestia. 

To follow Lyngbya, page 34: 

SYMPLOCA, Kütz. 

Filaments as in Lyngbya, but adhering to one another in fascicles. 

Scarcely distinct from Lyngbya except in the existence of a mass of jelly, by means of which the 

filaments adhere to one another in meshes. In habit the species of the

184 


present genus resemble the species of Calothrix rather than Lyngbya, but the filaments are not 

prolonged in a hair-like extremity as in the first-named genus. 

S. fasciculata, Kütz. 

Filaments a quarter to half an inch high, united in tooth-like masses from a 

gelatinous base. .009-12 mm broad, sheaths thin, cells broader than long. 

On rocks between tide-marks. 

Newport, R. I.; Europe. 

Table of comparative distribution of New England species. 

Number of New 

England Genera. 

Number of New 

England Species. 

Number of species 


Number of species 

south of Cape Cod. 

Common to North 

-ern Europe. 

Common to Mediterranean 

and 

Adriatic. 

Common to Pacific 

coast of United 

States. 

Cryptophyceæ 17 - 32 - 24 - 24 - 26 - 20 - - - - - - - 1 - 2 - 

Chroococcaceæ - 5 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 5 - 3 - - - - - - - 1 - - 

Nostochineæ - 12 - 26 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 17 - - - - - - - - - 

Zoosporeæ 36 - 88 - 71 - 65 - 77 - 34 - 15 - 33 - 3 - 2 - 3 - 

Chlorosporeæ - 7 - 36 - 28 - 27 - 30 - 15 - 7 - 6 - - - 1 - 1 

Bryopsideæ - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 - - - - - - - - 

Botrydieæ - 1 - 1 - 1 - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Phæosporeæ - 26 - 49 - 41 - 36 - 44 - 17 - 7 - 27 - 1 - 1 - 2 

Oosporeæ 4 - 11 - 7 - 7 - 11 - 2 - 2 - 7 - - - - - - - 

Vaucherieæ - 1 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1 - - - - - - - - - - 

Fucaceæ - 3 - 9 - 6 - 5 - 9 - 1 - 2 - 7 - - - - - - 

Florideæ 50 - 99 - 69 - 87 - 71 - 48 - 14 - 34 - 7 - 1 - 12 - 

Total 107 - 230 - 171 - 183 - 185 - 104 - 31 - 74 - 10 - 4 - 17 - 

Besides the genera and species, enumerated above, there are 4 genera and 10 species described, but not 

considered to be sufficiently well known. If these are counted, the total number of genera is 111, and 

240 species. The comparison with Mediterranean and Adriatic species is imperfect, because there is no 

complete list of the algæ of those seas, and our Pacific coast has not as yet been sufficiently well 

explored to make it possible to give approximately the number of our species found there. In the table 

the species marked peculiar to New England are those which extend along our whole coast, those of 

more limited range being kept distinct. The table shows plainly the general fact that the total number 

of species increases as one goes southward, and that the increase is mainly due to the relative increase 

in number of the Florideæ. It also shows the close resemblance of our marine flora to that of Northern 

Europe, and although the number of species common to Arctic waters is not large, as far as the 

numbers themselves are concerned, yet, if we consider the absolutely small total of species found in 

Arctic regions, the number of species common to our coast is relatively very large. The general poverty 

of our flora may be seen in comparing the number of genera and species found in New England with the 

number of species and genera in Harvey’s Phycologia Britannica and Le Jolis’s Liste des Algues 

Marines de Cherbourg. The number given by Harvey is 110 genera and 388 species; that given by Le 

Jolis is 137 genera and 316 species. The Phycologia was published in 1846-’51, and Le Jolis’s Liste in 

1863. In both works, more especially in the Phycologia, a number of species which we have in the 

present article united were kept distinct; but as additional species have been discovered since the 

appearance of the two works above named, the total number of species is not probably much less, or 

may even be greater, than the figures given by Harvey and Le Jolis. In Phyceæ Scandinavicæ Marinæ, 

published .in 1850, Areschoug describes 68 genera and 175 species. Since that date numerous additions 

have been made to the Scandinavian marine flora, and the total number of species is probably not far 

from that of the species of our own coast. 

Arctic. 

Peculiar to New 

England. 

Peculiar to coast 


Peculiar to coast 

south of Cape Cod.


ARTIFICIAL KEY TO GENERA. 

NOTE.—The following key is intended to enable persons who are not at all acquainted with our sea-weeds to 

ascertain with a partial degree of accuracy the genera to which specimens which they may collect are to be referred. 

For .this purpose the characters used are, as far as possible, those which can be seen by the naked eye, but, as in many 

cases, the generic distinctions absolutely depend on microscopic characters, one must not expect to be able to recognize 

all of our forms without making a more or less careful microscopical examination, especially in the case of the 

Cryptophyceæ and Phæosporeæ. It should of course be understood that the key is entirely artificial, and does not 

represent the true botanical relations of our genera; since in many cases the characters refer only to species of our 

Atlantic coast and would mislead a student having a specimen from other waters. 

1. Color bluish or purplish green,* algæ of small size, usually more or less gelatinous 

(Crytophyceæ) [sic] 5 

2. Color grass green ......................................................................... 18 

3. Color from yellowish brown to olive green or nearly black ........ 26 

4. Color red or reddish purple, rarely blackish, in fading becoming at times greenish 

(Florideæ) 48 

5. Cells arranged in filaments ........................................................... 9 

Cells in colonies, but not forming filaments ..................................... 6 

6. Cells grouped in twos or some multiple of two ............................. 7 

Cells solitary, not adherent in twos .................................................. 8 

7. Groups free, not united with one another by a gelatinous envelope. 

Chroococcus. 

Groups united by a gelatinous substance so as to form irregularly-shaped colonies 

Glœocapsa. 

Groups united by a gelatinous substance so as to form colonies of a dendritic shape 

Entophysalis. 

8. Cells imbedded in a gelatinous substance, forming colonies of indefinite shape 

Polycystis. 

Cells imbedded in a gelatinous mass, which forms at first ovoidal and afterwards netshaped 

colonies ....................................................... Clathrocystis. 

9. Filaments ending in a hyaline hair ............................................ 16 

Filaments not ending in a hair ....................................................... 10 

10. Filaments provided with heterocysts ........................................ 11 

Filaments destitute of heterocysts .................................................. 12 

11. Filaments with a thin gelatinous sheath, spores not adjacent to the heterocysts 

Nodularia. 

*Our marine species of Clathrocystis and the genus Beggiatoa are exceptions. The former is pinkish, and covers the 

mud and algæ between tide-marks with a very fine gelatinous film. The species of Beggiatoa are whitish to the naked 

eye, and form very delicate films over decaying algæ. 

†Vid. page 11.

186 


Filaments without a gelatinous sheath, spores next to the heterocysts Sphærozyga. 

12. Filaments with a gelatinous sheath ......................................... 15 

Filaments without a gelatinous sheath .......................................... 13 

13. Filaments spirally twisted ........................................... Spirulina. 

Filaments not spirally twisted ........................................................ 14 

14. Cells bluish or purplish green ..................................... Oscillaria. 

Cells colorless or containing opaque granules .................. Beggiatoa. 

15. Filaments free ................................................................. Lyngbya. 

Filaments adherent in meshes ........................................... Symploca. 

Filaments united in bundles and surrounded by a general gelatinous sheath 

Microcoleus. 

16. Filaments free ............................................................... Calothrix. 

Filaments imbedded in a dense mass of jelly ................................. 17 

17. Filaments nearly parallel, fronds forming a thin expansion Isactis. 

Filaments diverging from the base of the hemispherical or somewhat 

flattened fronds ................................................................... Rivularia. 

Filaments simple at the surface and forking in the interior of the vesicular fronds 

Hormactis. 

18. Fronds unicellular ..................................................................... 19 

Fronds multicellular ........................................................................ 20 

19. Cells small, ovoidal, prolonged into a long, root-like process at the base 

Codiolum. 

Cells large, filamentous, pinnately branching .................... Bryopsis. 

Cells large, with few, erect, alternate branches, some of which swell at the end and bear 

numerous spores ............................................................ Derbesia. 

Cells very long, cylindrical, with irregular or subdichotomous branches, spores large, 

solitary, in special lateral or terminal cells. 

........................................................................................Vaucheria. 

20. Fronds membranaceous ............................................................ 21 

Fronds filamentous .......................................................................... 22 

21. Fronds formed of a single layer of cells .................. Monostroma. 

Fronds composed of two layers of cells, which in some cases separate so as to form 

tubular fronds ....................................................................... Ulva. 

22. Filaments simple ....................................................................... 23 

Filaments branching ....................................................................... 24 

23. Small algæ, filaments soft and flaccid ........................... Ulothrix. 

Rather coarse algæ, filaments more or less rigid, often twisted together 

Chætomorpha. 

24. Some of the cells bearing long, hyaline hairs .......... Bulbocoleon. 

Hairs wanting .................................................................................. 25 

25 Branches small and root-like ................................. Rhizoclonium. 

Branches distinct ............................................................ Cladophora. 

26. Fronds irregularly globose, hollow, gelatinous ........... Leathesia. 

Fronds forming crusts or expanded pellicles .................................. 27


Fronds small, tufted, composed of a dense basal portion and an outer portion composed 

of free filaments ......................................................................... 28 

Fronds tubular, unbranched ........................................................... 29 


Fronds membranaceous, expanded ................................................. 41 

27. Fronds densely parenchymatous throughout, fruit in external spots Ralfsia. 

Fronds minute, thin, formed of a basal horizontal layer of cells and short vertical 

filaments, between which the sporangia are borne. 

...................................................................................... Myrionema. 

28. Free filaments all alike .............................................. Myriactis.* 

Free filaments of two kinds, one short and the other exserted. 

................................................................................ Elochistea. [sic] 

29. Fronds simple, hollow throughout, substance thin .................. 30 

Fronds simple, cylindrical, somewhat cartilaginous, with numerous diaphragms 

Chorda. 

Fronds branching substance thin, sporangia large, arranged in transverse lines 

Striaria. 

30. Sporangia densely covering the surface .................. Scytosiphon. 

Sporangia external in scattered spots ......................... Asperococcus. 

31. Fronds capillary, branching, formed of single rows of cells (monosiphonous) 

Ectocarpus. 

Fronds cylindrical, solid or occasionally becoming partially hollow with age 32 

32. Fronds slimy, composed of an axial layer of elongated filaments and a distinct 

cortical layer of short, horizontal filaments ............................. 33 

Fronds composed of elongated internal cells, which become smaller and polygonal at the 

surface ........................................................................................ 35 

Fronds, at least in the younger portions, formed of cells of nearly uniform length, 

arranged in transverse bands, without any proper cortical layer 38 

33. Fronds tough and dense .............................................. Chordaria. 

Fronds soft and flaccid ..................................................................... 34 

34. Outer cells of cortex producing plurilocular sporangiaCastagnea. Outer cells of cortex 

not producing plurilocular sporangia ........................... Mesogloia. 

35. Fronds traversed by a central filament formed of large cylindrical cells placed end to 

end .............................................................................................. 36 

Fronds destitute of distinct axile filament ..................................... 37 

36. Sporangia in branching, monosiphonous filaments, which form tufted whorls on the 

branches ................................................................... Arthrocladia. 

Sporangia inconspicuous, formed from the cortical cells Desmarestia. 

37. Sporangia globose, prominent in the cortical layer Dictyosiphon. 

*When reference is made in Myriactis and the following genera of Phæosporeæ to free external filaments, it should 

be understood that only filaments whose cells contain coloring matter are meant, and that no account is to be taken 

of the numerous hyaline hairs with which most of the species of Phæosporeæ are covered at certain seasons.

188 


Sporangia at the base of filaments, which form scattered external tufts Stilophora. 

38. Fronds minute, ending in a hyaline hair, monosiphonous below, densely beset above 

with very short branches, between which are the sporangia Myriotrichia. 

Fronds ending in a large, single cell, the cells of the lower part giving off descending 

filaments, which become interwoven and form a false cortex . 39 

39. Rhizoidal filaments few and limited to the base of the plant, branching, irregularly 

pinnate ...................................................................... Sphacelaria. 

Rhizoidal filaments numerous ........................................................ 40 

40. Branches distichously pinnate ................................. Chætopteris. 

Branches whorled ......................................................... Cladostephus. 

41. Fronds simple or occasionally proliferous ................................ 42 

Fronds branching ............................................................................. 47 

42. Midrib present ........................................................................... 43 

Midrib wanting ................................................................................ 44 

43. Fronds stipitate, perforated with numerous holes ........ Agarum. 

Fronds entire, with a few separate leaflets on the stipe below the lamina Alaria. 

44. Fronds thin, subsessile .............................................................. 45 

Fronds thick and coriaceous, distinctly stipitate ........................... 46 

45. Sporangia densely covering the surface of frond ........... Phyllitis. 

Sporangia external in scattered spots ........................... Punctaria. 

46. Cryptostomata present, fronds attached by short, nearly simple rhizoids 

Saccorhiza. 

Cryptostomata wanting, fronds attached by prominent, branching rhizoids 

Laminaria. 

47. Fronds without distinction of midrib and lamina, fruit borne on short lateral 

branches ................................................................... Ascophyllum. 

Blade distinct from the midrib, bladders borne in the laminae, fruit terminal Fucus. 

Bladders and fruit borne on special stalks ..................... Sargassum. 

48. Fronds calcareous ...................................................................... 49 

Fronds not calcareous ...................................................................... 50 

49. Fronds erect, filiform, articulated ................................ Corallina. 

Fronds thin, horizontally expanded .................................. Melobesia. 

Fronds thick, horizontally expanded, but rising at intervals in irregular protuberances 

Lithothamnion. 

50. Fronds horizontally expanded, crustaceous or membranaceous51 

Fronds erect or umbilicate .............................................................. 52 

51. Fronds parenchymatous, spores in external warts Peyssonnelia. 

Fronds parenchymatous, spores in cavities sunk in the 

frond .......................................................................... Hildenbrandtia.


Fronds parenchymatous below, but above formed of loosely united filaments, 

tetraspores formed in the filaments ............................ Petrocelis. 

52. Fronds tubular ........................................................................... 53 


Fronds membranaceous .................................................................. 75 

53. Fronds cartilaginous, hollow throughout, rigid, proliferous, tetraspores cruciate 

Halosaccion. 

Fronds slender, muck .contracted at the joints, but without diaphragms, tetraspores 

tripartite in depressed cavities Lomentaria. Fronds slender, nodose, with 

diaphragms at the nodes, tetraspores tripartite in the cortical layer Champia. 

54. Fronds monosiphonous, without proper cortex ........................ 55 

Fronds with distinct axial and cortical layers ................................ 62 

55. Fronds monosiphonous throughout .......................................... 56 

Fronds at first monosiphonous, becoming polysiphonous above, spores formed by 

divisions of any of the cells, filaments simple, gelatinous, dark purple Bangia. 

Fronds monosiphonous above, but below with a false cortex formed by descending 

filaments given off from the cells .............................................. 60 

Fronds formed of large cells placed end to end, with bands of smaller cells at the nodes, 

in some cases the nodal cells extending in a thin layer over the internodal cells 

61 

56. Spores (as far as known) formed directly from the contents of any of the cells 57 

Spores on short pedicels, distinct, undivided .......... Trentepohlia (?). 

Tetraspores and cystocarps present ............................................... 58 

57. Filaments simple, forming a fine web over other algæ. 

Erythrotrichia. Filaments dichotomously branching, minutely tufted 

Goniotrichum. 

58. Fronds formed of prostrate filaments, from which arise erect pinnate filaments, 

cystocarps terminal, involucrate, spores irregularly grouped, not surrounded by a 

common gelatinous envelope when 

mature .................................................................... Spermathamnion. 

Cystocarps terminal or lateral, spores irregularly grouped at maturity, covered by a 

general gelatinous envelope ...................................................... 59 

59. Fronds dichotomous, formed of delicate vesicular cells, tetraspores in whorls at the 

joints, involucrate ....................................................... Griffithsia, 

Fronds dichotomous or pinnate, tetraspores scattered on the branches, solitary or 

aggregated, cystocarps lateral, usually binate Callithamnion, in part. 

Fronds with a monosiphonous axis, nearly concealed by the densely whorled branches, 

cystocarps terminal on short branches, tetraspores in whorls one above another on 

special branches .............................................................. Halurus. 

60. Fronds capillary or bushy, densely branching, cortications confined to the larger 

branches, and evidently formed of vein-like descending filaments 

Callithamnion, in part.

190 


Fronds compressed, ancipital, branches pectinate-pinnate, covered everywhere, except at 

the tips, by polygonal, arealated cells. 

..............................................................................................Ptilota. 

61. Fronds dichotomous, tips usually incurved ............... Ceramium. 

Fronds pinnate, main branches corticated throughout with cells arranged in transverse 

bands, secondary branches corticated only at the nodes Spyridia. 

62. Fronds nearly black, substance dense ...................................... 63 

Fronds rose-colored or purple, gelatinous or rather succulent, sometimes capillary 

64 

63. Fronds dichotomous, cylindrical, cartilaginous, spores borne in external flesh-colored 

warts ............................................................................... Polyides. 

Fronds filiform, rigid, wiry, irregularly branching, forming dense, intricate bunches 

Ahnfeldtia. 

Fronds small, compressed, pinnate, forming small turfs, spores borne on an axile 

placenta in the enlarged terminal branches ............... Gelidium. 

64. Cystocarps immersed in the fronds .......................................... 65 

Cystocarps external, ovate or urceolate .......................................... 70 

65. Fronds gelatinous, composed internally of a dense mass of slender longitudinal 

filaments, which give off short, corymbose, lateral branches, which form the cortex 

66 

Fronds succulent, consisting of an internal layer of slender longitudinal filaments and a 

cortex composed of roundish polygonal cells, which become smaller towards the 

surface ........................................................................................ 69 

66. Spores arranged in regular radiating lines .............................. 67 

Spores in an irregular mass ............................................................ 68 

67. Cystocarps naked, cortical filaments free, often ending in hairs. 

.........................................................................................Nemalion. 

Cystocarps surrounded by a delicate membranous sack, cortical filaments ending in 

large hyaline cells, which are adherent to one another . Scinaia. 

68. Fronds dichotomous, subcompressed, central filaments fine and numerous 

Nemastoma. 

Fronds filiform, pinnate, central filaments few, rather large. 

..................................................................................Gloiosiphonia. 

69. Spores arranged in groups around a central placenta Rhabdonia. 

Spores grouped in several irregular masses in the interior of the 

fronds ........................................................................... Cystoclonium. 

70. Fronds traversed by a distinct central filament or siphon ...... 72 

Fronds without a distinct central filament .................................... 71 

71. Fronds succulent, brownish purple, cylindrical, beset with subulate branchlets, 

apices generally hooked, tetraspores zonate Hypnea. Fronds red, somewhat rigid, 

filiform, tetraspores cruciate. 

Cordylecladia. 

72. Branches much contracted at base ........................ Chondriopsis. 

Branches not contracted at base ..................................................... 73


73. Fronds long, cylindrical, densely clothed with lake-red hairs Dasya. 

Fronds purple or dark red, occasionally blackish, superficial cells either throughout or at 

least in the young branches arranged in transverse bands ..... 74 

Fronds dark red, much branched, rather robust, superficial cells small, irregularly 

placed ......................................................................... Rhodomela. 

74. Tetraspores borne in the younger branches .......... Polysiphonia. 

Tetraspores borne in swollen, pod-like branches (stichidia). 

....................................................................................... Bostrychia. 

75. Fronds cartilaginous, dense, spores immersed in the substance of frond 76 

Fronds delicate or somewhat coriaceous ........................................ 79 

Fronds gelatinous, livid purple, composed of a single layer of cells, spores in marginal 

bands or spots ............................................................... Porphyra. 

76. Fronds formed internally of numerous anastomosnig [sic] filaments which divide 

corymbosely at the surface ........................................................ 77 

Fronds formed of roundish angular cells throughout .................... 78 

77. Fronds plane or slightly channelled ............................ Chondrus. 

Fronds beset with small papillæ, in which the spores are borne. 

.........................................................................................Gigartina. 

78. Fronds with a prominent stipe, which passes into a proliferous lamina, cystocarps 

external, globose ....................................................... Phyllophora. 

Fronds linear, regularly dichotomous, cystocarps immersed. 

................................................................................Gymnogongrus. 

79. Midrib present ........................................................................... 80 

Midrib wanting ................................................................................ 82 

80. Fronds rosy red, leaf-like ............................................................81 

Fronds dark brownish purple, narrow, dentate, midrib scarcely distinct Odonthalia. 

81. Tetraspores in spots on the fronds, lateral veins usually present. 

........................................................................................ Delesseria. 

Lateral veins wanting, tetraspores in thickened portions of the fronds Grinnellia. 

82. Fronds narrow, much divided ................................................... 84 

Fronds palmately or dichotomously divided ................................... 83 

83. Fronds deep red, broadly palmate, margins proliferous, tetraspores cruciate in 

patches ..................................................................... Rhodymenia. 

Fronds dark red, margins ciliate, tetraspores zonate Rhodophyllis. Fronds dark purple, 

deeply divided, tetraspores scattered, cruciate. 

........................................................................................Gracilaria. 

84. Branches alternately secund in threes or fours, the lowest undivided and spine-like, 

the rest pinnate ......................................................... Plocamium. 

Fronds subflabellate, upper divisions divaricately toothed Euthora.

192 


LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS CONSULTED. 

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——— Bidrag till kännedomen af Spetsbergens alger. Kongl. Svenska Vetensk. Akad. Handl. 

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——— Tillägg till föregaende afhandling. Loc. cit., 1868. 

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——— Bidrag till kännedomen af Grönlands Lamineer och Fucaceer. Kongl. Svenska Vetensk. Akad. 

Handl. Stockholm, 1872. 

——— Bidrag till Florideernes systematik. Universitets Arsskrift, Vol. VIII. Lund, 1871. 

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ARDISSONE, F. Prospetto delle Ceramiee Italiche. Pesaro, 1867. 

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ARESCHOUG, J. E. Phyceæ Scandinavicæ Marinæ. Upsala, 1850. 

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eller kunna med denna lättast förblandas. Bot. Notis. Lund, 1873. 

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——— Marine algæ from Key West. Loc. cit., Vol. IX, 1857. 

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——— Enumeration of the Arctic plants collected by Dr. I. S. Hayes in his exploration of Smith’s 

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BAILEY, J. W. Notes on the algæ of the United States. Am. Journ. Sci., 1847. 

——— Continuation of the list of localities of algæ in the United States. Loc. cit., 1848. 

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the command of Charles Wilkes, U. S. N. Algæ. Philadelphia, 1862. 

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BERTHOLD, G. Zur Kenntniss der Siphoneen und Bangiaceen. Mittheil. aus der zoolog. Station zu 

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——— Études Phycologiques: analyse d’algues marines. Paris, 1878. 

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——— Florule du Finistère. Brest, 1867. 

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FARLOW, W. G. List of the sea-weeds or marine algæ of the south coast of New England. Rept. of U. S. 

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——— List of the marine algæ of the United States, with notes of new and imperfectly known species. 

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——— List of the marine algæ of the United States. Rept. U. S. Fish Comm. for 1875. Washington, 

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S. Miss. 59——13

194 


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196 


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198 

THE MARINE ALGÆ OF NEW ENGLAND.


EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 

PLATE I. 

J. H. Blake and W. G. Farlow. 

Fig. 1. Glœocapsa crepidium, Thuret. 600 diam. 

2. Isactis plana, Thuret. 600 diam. 

3. Sphærozyga Carmichaelii, Harv.: a, heterocyst; b, b, spores. 600 diam. 

4. Lyngbya majuscula, Harv. 400 diam. 

5. Oscillaria subuliformis, Harv. 500 diam. 

6. Calothrix confervicola, Ag.: a, a, hormogonia; b, b, heterocysts; c, cell of host-plant. 400 diam. 

PLATE II. 


Fig. 1. Hormactis Quoyi, (Ag.) Bornet: a, a, heterocysts. 600 diam. 

2. Rivularia atra, Roth: a, a, heterocysts; the cross-lines represent the gelatinous matrix. 500 diam. 

3. Microcolem chthonoplastes, Thuret: a, free trichomata projecting beyond the ruptured sheath. 500 diam. 

4. Spirulina tenuissima, Kütz. 900 diam. 

PLATE III. 


Fig. 1. Ulva Lactuca, (L.) Le Jolis: a, microzoospores which have escaped from marginal cells; b, cells in which 

zoospores are forming; c, cells from which zoospores have escaped. 500 diam. 

2. Rhizoclonium riparium, Kütz. 20 diam. 

3. Cladophora lætevirens, (Dillw.) Harv. 20 diam. 

PLATE IV. 


Fig. 1. Bryopsis plumosa, (Huds.) Ag.; portion of upper division of the unicellular frond. 10 diam. 

2. Vaucheria Thuretii, Woronin: a, a, young antheridia; a', antheridium which has discharged its 

antherozoids; c, c, oogonia with oospores. 100 diam. 

3. Phyllitis fascia, Kütz; section of frond with plurilocular sporangia, a, covering the surface. 500 diam. 

4. Derbesia tenuissima, (De Not.) Crouan: a, spores (zoosporangia?) nearly mature; b, b', cross-partitions 

forming cell at base of sporangium. 100 diam. 

5. Punctaria plantaginea, (Roth) Grev.; transverse section of frond: a, plurilocular sporangia with zoospores; 

a', the same when old, after the zoospores have been discharged and the internal cell-walls obliterated.

200 


PLATE V. 


Fig. 1. Leathcsia difformis, (L.) Aresch.; dissection showing a portion of cortical layer: a, a, unilocular sporangia; b, b, 

hairs. 400 diain. 

2. Chordaria flagelliformis, Ag.; longitudinal section of outer part of frond showing cortical filaments with 

unilocular sporangia, a, and a few cells of internal layer. 500 diam. 

3. Asperococcus echinatus, Grev.; transverse section of frond: a, unilocular sporangia; b, hairs. 150 diam. 

4. Stilophora rhizodes, Ag.; longitudinal section of outer part of frond showing sorus with paraphyses and 

unilocular sporangia. 400 diam. 

6. [sic] Ralfsia verrucosa, Aresch.; vertical section of frond with a sorus containing unilocular sporangia. 

6. Sphacelaria cirrhosa, (Roth) Ag.; a portion of frond with propagulum. 200 diam. 

PLATE VI. 


Fig. 1. Chorda filum, L.; transverse section of portion of a frond showing paraphyses, b, and unilocular sporangia, a. 

200 diam. 

2. Stilophora rhizodes, Ag.; portion of sorus taken from Pl. V, Fig. 4, more highly magnified to show unilocular 

sporangia, a, a', and paraphyses, b. 600 diam. 

3. Ectocarpus littoralis, Lyngb., var. robustus, Farlow; plurilocular sporangia. 200 diam. 

4. The same with unilocular sporangia. 

5. Myrionenia Leclancheri, (Chauv.) Harv.; vertical section showing plurilocular sporangia.. 400 diam. 

PLATE VII. 


Fig. 1. Castagnea virescens, (Carm.) Thuret; unilocular sporangium and hair, b. 400 diam. 

2. Castagnea Zosteræ, (Mohr.) Thuret; transverse section of outer portion of frond showing plurilocular sporangia, 

a, a', and hair, b. 400 diam. 

3. Elachistea fucicola, Fries; dissection of superficial part of frond, showing unilocular sporangia, a, a', and colored 

exserted filaments, b. 300 diam. 

PLATE VIII. 


Fig. 1. Fucus vesiculosus, L.; fructifying tip of frond: a, air-bladder; b, conceptacles. Natural size. 

2. Laminaria longicruris, De la Pyl.; section through fructiferous portion of frond showing unilocular 

sporangia, a, and paraphyses, b. 400 diam. 

PLATE IX. 


Fig. 1. Fucus vesiculosus, L.; section through a female conceptacle showing oospores and paraphyses. 200 diam. 

2. The same; section through male conceptacle showing antheridia. 200 diam.


PLATE X. 


Fig. 1. Spyridia filamentosa, Harv.; axis with branch bearing antheridia, a, 200 diam.; 

2. Callithamnion corymbosum, Lyngb.; branch with antheridia. 200 diam. 

3. Trentepohlia virgatula, Harv.; showing the undivided spores, a, a. 200 diam. 

4. Griffithsia Bornetiana, Farlow; tip of male plant with antheridia. 400 diam. 

5. The same; portion of tetrasporic plant with tetraspores, a, and involucre, b. 200 diam. 

PLATE XI 


Fig. 1. Callithamnion Baileyii, Harv.; plant with tetraspores: a, before separation from the mother-cell; a', free 

from the mother-cell. 200 diam. 

2. The same; plant bearing binate cystocarp. 

3. Griffithsia Bornetiana, Farlow; plant bearing cystocarp (favella). 200 diam. 

PLATE XII. 


Fig. 1. Nemalion multifidum, Ag.; dissection of outer part of the plant to show the cystocarp. 400 diam. 

2. Spyridia filamentosa, Harv.; tip of female plant with a double cystocarp, the right-hand portion of figure 

representing the cystocarp and branch in section; the left-hand cystocarp being seen superficially. 400 

diam. 

PLATE XIII. 


Fig. 1. Polysiphonia Olneyi, Harv.; branch with antheridium, a. 200 diam. 

2, 3, and 4. Grinnellia Americana, Harv.: Figs. 3 and 4 represent the antheridia seen from above and in 

section, a; Fig. 2, section through a cystocarp. 400 diam. 

PLATE XIV. 


Fig. 1. Petrocelis cruenta J. Ag.; dissection of frond showing the tetraspores, a, a'. 400 

diam. 

2. Rhabdonia tenera, J. Ag.; transverse section of frond showing cystocarp and carpostome. 200 diam. 

PLATE XV. 


Fig. 1. Dasya elegans, Ag.; branch with stichidium bearing tetraspores. 300 diam. 

2 and 5. Champia parvula, Harv.: Fig. 5, portion of frond bearing a cystocarp, a; slightly enlarged; Fig. 2, 

section through a, showing arrangement of spores, carpogenic cell, and carpostome. 400 diam. 

3 and 4. Polysiphonia Harveyi, Bail.: Fig. 4, branch with cystocarp; Fig. 3, section through the same, 

showing spores and carpogenic cell. 400 diam.

INDEX OF GENERA AND SPECIES. 

[The synonyms and species incidentally mentioned are in italics. The larger-sized figures indicate the page where the 

description is given.] 

Page. 

A. 

Acetabularia Mediterranea L.x......................... 14 

Acroblaste Reinsch ............................................ 57 

Acrocarpus crinalis K.g................................... 158 

“ lubricus K.g ............................................... 158 

Agarum Post. & Rupr........................................96 

“ fimbriatum Harv.......................................... 96 

“ Turneri Post. & Rupr......................... 5, 92, 96 

Aglaiophyllum Americanum Mont ................. 161 

Ahnfeldtia Fries.......................................144, 146 

“ gigartinoides Ag ........................................ 146 

“ plicata Fries ..........................................4, 147 

“ “ v. fastigiata Post. & Rupr ....................147 

Alaria Grev ............................................................ 97 

“ esculenta Grev ............................................. 97 

“ “ v. latifolia Post. & Rupr.......................... 97 

“ Pylaii Grev ................................................... 98 

Amphithrix K.g.................................................. 36 

Anabaina marina Bréb ..................................... 30 

Antithamnion Naeg.................................121, 122 

“ cruciatum Naeg.......................................... 122 

Areschougieæ ................................................... 139 

Arthrocladia Duby...........................................183 

“ villosa Duby ...............................................183 

Ascophyllum Stack............................................ 99 

“ nodosum Stack............................................. 99 

Asperococceæ............................................... 17, 88 

Asperococcus L.x ......................................... 88, 90 

“ bullosus L.x .................................................. 89 

“ compressus Griff .................................. 88, 143 

“ echinatus Grev............................................. 89 

“ sinuosus Bory............................................... 88 

B. 

Bacillus Cohn .................................................... 32 

Bacteria ....................................................... 11, 26 

Bacterium rubescens Lankaster....................... 29 

Balbiania Sirod............................................... 108 

Bangia Lyngb ..................................110, 111, 112 

“ ceramicola Chauvin........................... 112, 113 

“ ciliaris Carm.............................................. 112 

“ elegans Chauvin ........................................ 113 

“ fusco-purpurea Lyngb ...............................112 

Batrachospermum Roth ................... 20, 108, 116 

Beggiatoa Trevisan..................................... 12, 32 

“ alba Treves v. marina Warm...................... 32 

“ arachnoidea Rab.......................................... 32 

“ minima Warm ............................................. 32 

“ mirabilis Cohn ............................................. 32 

Bladder-kelp ..................................................... 15 

Bonnemaisonia asparagoides Ag....................... 7 

Bornetia Thuret...................................... 118, 131 

Page. 

Bostrychia Mont.............................. 169, 175, 177 

“ rivularis Harv........................................... 176 

“ scorpioides Mont........................................176 

Botrydieæ ....................................... 13, 14, 25, 58 

Botrydium granulatum (L.) Grev ..............14, 58 

“ gregarium Farlow..................................14, 58 

Bryopsideæ..................................... 13, 14, 25, 59 

Bryopsis L.x ..................................................... 59 

“ hypnoides L.x...............................................60 

“ plumosa (Huds.) Ag.............................. 14, 59 

“ tenuissima De Not.......................................60 

Bulbocoleon Pringsh ............................ 24, 57, 69 

“ piliferum Pringsh ....................................... 57 

C. 

Calliblepharis ciliata K.g...................5, 152, 153 

“ jubata K.g .................................................153 

Callithamnion Lyngb ......................21, 108, 109, 

118, 120, 131, 142 

“ Americanum Harv ................................... 123 

“ Baileyi Harv .............................. 20, 121, 127 

“ “ v. laxa Farlow ........................................127 

“ Barreri Ag........................................ 124, 126 

“ brachiatum Harv......................................126 

“ byssoideum Arn....................... 121, 127, 128 

“ “ v. fastigiatum Harv .............................. 128 

“ “ v. unilaterale Harv ............................... 128 

“ “ v. Waltersii Harv .................................. 128 

“ corymbosum Lyngb ......... 121, 123, 128, 129 

“ “ v. secundatum Harv ..............................128 

“ cruciatum Ag ........................................... 122 

“ Daviesii Harv ...........................................109 

“ Dietziæ Hooper................................ 127, 129 

“ floccosum Ag.................................... 122, 125 

“ graniferum Menegh .................................123 

“ Labradorense Reinsch..............................125 

“ luxurians Ner. Am. Bor ...........................109 

“ polyspermum Ag ..................................... 123 

“ plumula Lyngb ........................................ 124 

“ roseum Harv............................................ 125 

“ Pylaisæi Mont ............................. 5, 123, 124 

“ Rothii Lyngb..................................... 12l, 170 

“ secundatum Lyngb...................................109 

“ seirospermum Harv.................................129 

“ tenue Harv .............................................. 130 

“ tetragonum Ag ................................ 126, 127 

“ Tocwottoniensis Harv............................. 130 

“ versicolor Ag.............................................129 

“ “ v. seirospermum Ag...............................129 

“ virgatulum Harv......................................109 

Cattophyllis K.g........................................144, 153 

“ cristata K.g....................................................153


Page. 

Callophyllis laciniata K.g ................................... 7 

Caloglossa Ag .................................................. 163 

“ Leprieurii Ag .............................................. 163 

Calosiphonia Crouan ...................................... 120 

Calothrix (Ag.) Thuret...............................36, 184 

“ confervicola Ag ............................................. 36 

“ crustacea Born. & Thuret............................ 36 

“ hydnoides Harv ............................................ 37 

“ parasitica Thuret ......................................... 37 

“ parietina Thuret .......................................... 40 

“ pulvinata Ag................................................. 37 

“ scopulorum Ag........................................37, 59 

“ vivipara Harv............................................... 37 

Capsicarpella Kjellm................................... 68, 74 

“ sphærophora Kjellm..................................... 74 

Castagnea Thuret.............................................. 85 

“ virescens Thuret ....................................85, 86 

“ Zosteræ Thuret ............................................ 86 

Ceramieæ...................25, 107, 119, 139, 141, 142 

Ceramium Lyngb.....................................131, 134 

“ botryocarpum Harv.................................... 135 

“ Capri-Cornu (Reinsch)...............................138 

“ circinnatum K.g .........................................135 

“ corymbosum Ag.......................................... 138 

“ Deslongchampsii Farlow ................... 136, 137 

“ diaphanum Roth ................................136, 139 

“ fastigiatum Harv ...............................137, 138 

“ Hooperi Harv........................................76, 136 

“ nodosum Phyc.Brit .................................... 138 

“ rubrum Ag......................................4, 135, 148 

“ “ v. decurrens Ag ...................................... 135 

“ “ v. proliferum Ag.....................................135 

“ “ v. secundatum Ag ..................................135 

“ “ v. squarrosum Harv ..............................135 

“ strictum Harv ....................................136, 139 

“ tenuissimum Ag.................................137, 138 

“ “ v. arachnoideum Ag...............................138 

“ “ v. patentissimum Harv .........................138 

“ Youngii Farlow .......................................... 138 

Chætomorpha K.g ....................................... 45, 46 

“ ærea (Dillw.) K.g............................................ 46 

“ herbacea K.g................................................. 47 

“ Linum(Flor. Dan.) K.g ................................. 47 

“ longiarticulata Harv.................................... 48 

“ melagonium (Web. & Mohr) K.g ........... 46, 48 

“ Olneyi Harv............................................ 46, 48 

“ Picquotiana (Mont) K.g ......................... 47, 48 

“ sutoria (Berk.) Harv .............................. 47, 48 

“ tortuosa Harv............................................... 49 

“ torulosa Zan ................................................. 47 

Chætopteris K.g .......................................... 75, 77 

“ plumosa K.g ............................................. 5, 77 

“ squamulosa K.g ........................................... 77 

Champia Harv.................................149, 154, 155 

“ parvula Harv .............................................156 

Chantransia Auct ........................................... 108 

“ corymbifera Thuret............................ 108, 109 

“ efflorescens Thuret..................................... 109 

“ investiens Lenor......................................... 108 

Characeæ........................................................... 10 

Characium A. Br............................................... 58 

Chlorodesmis vaucheriæformis Harv............... 60 

Chlorospermece ..................................... 10, 12, 40 

Chlorosporeæ ..................................13, 25, 40, 44 

Chlorozoosporeæ, see Chlorosporeæ. 

Page. 

Chondria Ag ...............................................20, 165 

“ atropurpurea Harv .....................................167 

“ Baileyana Harv ...................................4, 6, 166 

“ littoralis Harv .............................................167 

“ nidifica Harv...............................................167 

“ sedifolia Harv .............................................166 

“ striolata Ag .................................................166 

“ striolata Farlow ..........................................166 

“ tenuissima Ag .........................................4, 166 

Chondriopsis Ag .............................. 164, 165, 168 

“ atropurpurea Ag ........................................ 167 

“ “ v. fasciculata Farlow ............................. 167 

“ dasyphila Ag .............................................. 166 

“ v. sedifolia Ag ..................................... 166 

“ littoralis Ag ................................................ 167 

“ tenuissima Ag .................................... 166, 167 

“ “ v. Baileyana Farlow .............................. 166 

Chondrosiphon uncinatus K.g.........................154 

Chondrus Stack....................................... 146, 148 

“ crispus (L.) Stack ............... 4, 9, 146, 148, 150 

“ Norvegius Lyngb.........................................146 

Chorda Stack..................................................... 91 

“ filum L .......................................................... 91 

“ “ v. lomentaria K.g......................................63 

“ lomentaria Lyngb ...................................15, 63 

“ tomentosa Lyngb...........................................91 

Chordariaceæ .....................................................61 

Chordarieæ.................................... 16, 17, 83, 116 

Chordaria Ag..................................................... 83 

“ divaricata Ag ............................5, 8, 57, 83, 84 

“ flagelliformis Ag ................................ 4, 57, 83 

“ “ v. densa Farlow ....................................... 84 

“ “ v. hippuroides Ag .................................... 66 

Choreocolax Reinsch ............................... 109, 110 

“ Americanus Reinsch.................................. 110 

“ mirabilis Reinsch....................................... 110 

“ Polysiphoniæ Reinsch ............................... 110 

“ Rabenhorsti Reinsch ................................. 110 

“ tumidus Reinsch........................................ 110 

Chroococcaceæ ...................................... 11, 25, 26 

Chroococcus Naeg ............................................. 27 

“ turgidus Naeg.............................................. 27 

Chroolepideæ......................................................57 

Chrysymenia ............................................149, 154 

“ rosea Harv...................................................155 

Chthonoblastus anguiformis Rab .....................33 

“ Lyngbei K.g...................................................33 

“ repens K.g......................................................34 

Chylocladia Grev.............................................154 

“ Baileyana Harv...........................................154 

“ rosea Harv...................................................155 

“ uncinata Ag.........................................154, 155 

Chytridium A. Br...................................15, 68, 73 

“ plumulæ Cohn ............................................122 

“ sphacelarum Kny .........................................76 

Ciliaria fusca Rupr..........................................152 

Cladophora K.g ..................................................50 

“ albida(Huds.)K.g ............................. 51, 52, 55 

“ arcta (Dillw.)................................................ 50 

“ centralis Auct................................................51 

“ crystallίna Roth............................................53 

“ diffusa Harv .................................................53 

“ expansa K.g ................................................. 55 

“ flavescens K.g ...............................................56 

“ flexuosa (Griff.) Harv .................................. 54

204 

Page. 

Cladophora fracta (Fl. Dan.) K.g ...................... 56 

“ glaucescens (Griff.) Harv ................. 52, 54, 55 

“ “ v. pectinella Harv..................................... 53 

“ gracilis (Griff.) K.g ....................................... 55 

“ “ v. expansa Farlow.................................... 55 

“ “ v. tenuis Thuret ....................................... 55 

“ Hutchinsiæ (Dillw.) K.g............................... 53 

“ lætevirens (Dillw.) Harv ........................ 52, 53 

“ lanosa (Roth) K.g ......................................... 51 

“ “ v. uncialis Thuret ..................................... 51 

“ Magdalenæ Harv ......................................... 56 

“ Morrisiæ Harv.............................................. 54 

“ pseudo-sericea Crouan ................................. 52 

“ refracta (Roth) Aresch ................................. 52 

“ Rudolphiana Ag............................................ 54 

“ rupestris (L.) K.g..........................................51 

“ sericea (Huds.).............................................. 53 

“ vadorum Aresch........................................... 55 

“ vaucheriæformis Ag ..................................... 50 

Cladosiphon....................................................... 66 

Cladostephus Ag............................15, 75, 77, 132 

“ spongiosus Ag............................................... 78 

“ verticillatus Ag............................................. 78 

“ “ v. spongiosus Farlow ................................. 78 

Clathrocystis Henfrey................................. 23, 28 

“ æruginosa Henfrey ...................................... 29 

“ roseo-persicina Cohn ................................... 28 

Codiolum A. Br.................................................. 58 

“ gregarium A. Br........................................... 58 

“ Nordenskioldianum Kjellm......................... 58 

Codium Stack.................................................... 58 

“ tomentosum Stack ......................................... 8 

Coilonema Aresch ............................................. 66 

Coleochæte Bréb ............................................... 57 

Conferva œrea Dillw ......................................... 46 

“ arenicola Berk ............................................. 49 

“ arenosa Crouan............................................ 49 

“ brachiata Engl. Bot ..................................... 74 

“ collabens Harv ............................................. 45 

“ implexa Aresch ............................................ 49 

“ implexa Harv................................................... 49 

“ Linum Crouan ................................................. 47 

“ majuscula Dillw .............................................. 34 

“ melogonium Web. & Mohr.............................. 46 

“ penicilliformis Roth ........................................ 45 

“ Picquotiana Mont............................................ 47 

“ tortuosa Harv .................................................. 49 

“ Youngana Harv ............................................... 45 

Corallineæ..................................................25, 177 

Corallina L.x ............................................178, 179 

“ officinalis L................................................4, 179 

“ squamata Ell ................................................. 179 

Conjugateæ......................................................... 98 

Cordylecladia Ag......................................149, 151 

“ Huntii Harv...................................................151 

Corticularia K.g................................................. 71 

Corynephora marina Ag.................................... 82 

Corynospora Ag ............................................... 125 

Cruoria pellita Harv........................................ 115 

Cruoriopsis cruciata Dufour ........................... 114 

Cryptococcus roseus K.g .................................... 29 

Cryptonemia Ag ............................................... 141 

Cryptonemieæ....................25, 120, 140, 142, 149 

Cryptophyceæ .................................... 8, 11, 25, 26 

Cryptopleura Americana K.g .......................... 161 


Page. 

Cutleria Grev.......................................................7, 90 

“ collaris Zan...................................................17 

Cutlerieæ.........................................................9, 17 

Cyanophyceæ, see Cryptophyceæ. 

Cylindrospermum Carmichaelii K.g.................30 

“ polysporum K.g ............................................31 

Cystoclonium K.g ............................................ 147 

“ purpurascens K.g.......... 4, 110, 147, 148, 159 

“ “ v. cirrhosa Harv......................................147 

Cystoseireæ .........................................8, 81, 82, 99 

Cystoseira myrica Ag .........................................82 

D. 

Dasya Ag.................................................. 164, 176 

“ coccinea Ag.................................................177 

“ elegans Ag......................... 4, 6, 146, 162, 177 

“ pedicellata C. Ag........................................177 

Dasyactis plana K.g ...........................................39 

Delesseria L.x.......................................... 161, 162 

“ alata L.x ................................................. 5, 163 

“ “ v. angustissima Harv............................ 163 

“ Americana Ag .............................................161 

“ Leprieurii Mont ......................................... 163 

“ sinuosa L.x......................... 4, 5, 134, 154, 162 

Delesserieæ .......................................................161 

Derbesia Sol ................................................ 59, 60 

“ Lamourouxii Sol ...........................................60 

“ marina Sol ....................................................60 

“ tenuissima (De Not.) Crouan...................... 60 

Desmarestieæ ............................................. 16, 64 

Desmarestia L.x................................................ 64 

“ aculeata L.x ............................................. 5, 65 

“ ligulata L.x ...................................................65 

“ viridis L.x......................................... 5, 65, 183 

Desmiospermeæ................................................106 

Dichloria viridis Grev .......................................65 

Dictyosiphon Grev ................................ 15, 66, 84 

“ fœniculaceus Grev....................................... 66 

“ fœniculaceus Aresch.....................................66 

“ hippuroides Aresch ................................. 5, 66 

Dictyosiphoneæ................................................. 65 

Dictyotaceæ.............................7, 12, 61, 88, 89, 90 

Dictyoteæ............................................................19 

Dolichospermum polysporum Wood .................31 

Dorythamnion Baileyi Naeg............................127 

“ tetragonum Naeg........................................126 

Dudresnaya Bonnem .................21, 114, 141, 160 

“ coccinea Ag .................................................160 

“ purpurifera Ag............................................160 

Dulse ....................................................................9 

Dumontieæ........................................ 25, 139, 142 

Dumontia filiformis Grev........................142, 143 

Durvillæa Bory ..................................................99 

E. 

Ectocarpaceæ .....................................................61 

Ectocarpeæ ................................................. 16, 67 

Ectocarpus Lyngb......................... 15, 68, 89, 121 

“ amphibius Harv...........................................71 

“ Anticostiensis Reinsch .................................73 

“ brachiatus Harv.......................................... 74 

“ Chordariæ Farlow ...................................... 69 

“ confervoides Le Jolis............................. 68, 71 

“ “ v. hiemalis Kjellm ............................. 71, 72 

“ “ v. siliculosus Kjellm ................................ 71


Page. 

Ectocarpus Dietziæ Harv................................... 75 

“ Durkeei Harv................................................ 70 

“ Farlowii Thuret...................................... 73, 74 

“ fasciculatus Harv ................................... 68, 72 

“ “ v. draparnaldioides Crouan ...................... 72 

“ firmus Ag ................................................ 72, 73 

“ granulosus Ag............................................... 70 

“ “ v. tenuis Farlow....................................... 70 

“ Griffithsianus Le Jolis ................................ 74 

“ hiemalis Crouan........................................... 71 

“ Hooperi Harv................................................ 75 

“ Landsburgii Harv ........................................ 75 

“ littoralis Lyngb ......................................73, 74 

“ “ v. robustus Farlow................................... 73 

“ lutosus Harv................................................. 72 

“ Mitchellæ Harv............................................ 72 

“ pusillus Griff .......................................... 15, 68 

“ reptans Crouan ............................................ 69 

“ sphærophora Harv....................................... 74 

“ tomentosus Lyngb .................................70, 72 

“ viridis Harv.................................................. 71 

Eel-grass.............................................................. 9 

Egregia Aresch ............................................ 15, 61 

Elachistea Duby .......................................... 16, 80 

“ attenuata Harv ............................................ 81 

“ Canadensis Rupr ......................................... 81 

“ flaccida Aresch ............................................ 80 

“ fucicola Fr .............................................. 80, 81 

“ lubrica Rupr........................................... 80, 81 

“ pulvinata Harv ............................................ 80 

“ scutulata Duby ............................................ 80 

Elaionema villosum Berk............................... 183 

Enteromorpha compressa Auct ........................ 43 

“ intestinalis Auct .......................................... 43 

“ Grevillei Thuret........................................... 41 

“ Linkiana Grev............................................... 44 

“ ramulosa Harv ............................................ 44 

Entonema Reinsch ............................................ 69 

Entophysalis K.g............................................... 29 

“ granulosa K.g .............................................. 29 

“ Magnoliæ Farlow ........................................ 29 

Erythrotrichia Aresch ....................110, 111, 112 

“ ceramicola Aresch ..................................... 113 

Euactis amœna K.g .......................................... 38 

“ atra K.g........................................................ 38 

“ confluens K.g ............................................... 38 

“ hemisphærica K.g........................................ 38 

“ hospita K.g .................................................. 38 

“ Lenormandiana K.g.................................... 38 

“ marina K.g.................................................. 38 

“ prorumpens K.g .......................................... 38 

Eucallithamnion.............................................125 

Eucheuma Ag.................................................. 158 

Eucladophora.................................................... 51 

Euthora Ag .....................................149, 153, 158 

“ cristata Ag.............................5, 6, 8, 134, 153 

F. 

Florideæ........................................11, 19, 25, 106 

Florideæ Incertæ Sedis..................................108 

Fucaceæ ......................18, 25, 40, 92, 95, 99, 100 

Fucodium nodosum J. Ag .............................. 100 

Fucus (L.) D.c.ne & Thuret............................100 

“ agarum Turn .............................................. 96 

“ bicornis De la Pyl ..................................... 101 

Page. 

Fucus canaliculatus L..........................................8 

“ ceranoides L............................................... 101 

“ cribrosus Mertens.........................................96 

“ distichus L ..................................................102 

“ evanescens Ag.......................... 5, 18, 100, 101 

“ filiformis Gmel........................................... 102 

“ furcatus Ag ................................................ 102 

“ microphyllus De la Pyl...............................101 

“ natans L......................................................103 

“ natans Turn ................................................103 

“ nodosus L................................................18, 99 

“ pertusus Mertens..........................................96 

“ platycarpus Farlow ....................................101 

“ serratus L .................................................. 101 

“ vesiculosus L........................ 18, 100, 101, 102 

“ “ v. laterifructus Grev.......................... 100, 101 

“ “ v. sphærocarpus Ag ............................... 101 

“ “ v. spiralis Auct ....................................... 101 

Furcellaria fastigiata, L.x ...............................160 

G. 

Gelidieæ .................................................... 25, 157 

Gelidium L.x ................................................... 157 

“ corneum L.x............................................7, 158 

“ “ v. crinale Auct........................................158 

“ crinale Ag .............................................. 7, 158 

Gigartina L.x .................................................. 148 

“ mamillosa Ag..................................... 148, 149 

“ papillata Ag................................................148 

“ plicata L.x ...................................................147 

“ tenera J. Ag ................................................159 

Gigartineæ........................................ 25, 143, 156 

Ginannia furcellata Mont...............................118 

Giraudia sphacelarioides Derb. & Sol .............75 

Glœogenæ Cohn.................................................26 

Glœocapsa (K.g) Naeg................................ 23, 27 

“ crepidinum Thuret ..................................... 27 

“ Itzigsohnii Bornet........................................27 

“ stegophila Itzigs...........................................27 

Glœotrichia .......................................................38 

Gloiosiphonia Carm ....................... 120, 141, 142 

“ capillaris Carm ......................................... 141 

Gongroceras strictum K.g...............................136 

Gongylospermeæ .............................................106 

Goniotrichum K.g .......................... 110, 111, 113 

“ cœrulescens Zan.........................................113 

“ elegans Zan ............................................... 113 

Gracilaria Grev ...................................... 161, 163 

“ compressa Grev..........................................164 

“ confervoides Grev ......................................164 

“ lichenoides Ag............................................164 

“ multipartita Ag..................................... 6, 164 

“ “ v. angustissima Harv........................... 164 

Griffithsia Ag ......................................... 118, 130 

“ barbata Ag .................................................130 

“ Bornetiana Farlow ................................... 131 

“ corallina Ag .......................................131, 132 

“ equisetifolius Ag ........................................132 

“ globifera Ag................................................131 

“ globulifera K.g...........................................131 

“ setacea Ag ..................................................131 

“ tenuis Ag ....................................................130 

Grinnellia Harv ..................................... 161, 162 

“ Americana Harv................................... 6, 161 

Gymnogongrus Mart ............................. 144, 145

206 

Page. 

Gymnogongrus Grffithsiæ Ag ......................... 146 

“ Norvegicus Ag ...................................146, 149 

“ plicatus K.g................................................ 147 

“ Torreyi Ag..................................................146 

Gymnophlœa Ag ............................................. 142 

H. 

Hæmatococcus binalis Hassal.......................... 27 

Halidrys Lyngb ........................................... 81, 90 

Haliseris polypodioides Ag ................................. 7 

Halopteris K.g ................................................... 75 

Halosaccion K.g ..........................81, 89, 142, 143 

“ microsporum Rupr .................................... 143 

“ ramentaceum Ag ...................................5, 143 

“ “ v. gladiatum Eaton ...............................143 

Halurus K.g.....................................................132 

“ equisetifolius K.g.......................................132 

Halymenia Ag ................................................. 141 

“ ligulata Ag ................................................. 159 

Helminthocladia Ag........................................ 117 

Helminthocladieæ ........................................... 116 

Helminthora Ag............................................... 117 

Herpothamnion Naeg ..................................... 120 

“ Turneri Naeg .............................................. 119 

Hildenbrandtia Nardo ....................................115 

“ rivularis J. Ag............................................ 116 

“ rosea K.g ................................................4, 116 

“ rubra Harv ................................................. 116 

Himinthalia lorea Lyngb.............................. 8, 99 

Hormactis Thuret ....................................... 38, 39 

“ Balani Thuret .............................................. 40 

“ Farlowii Bornet ........................................... 40 

“ Quoyi (Ag.) Bornet....................................... 39 

Hormoceras Capri-Cornu Reinsch ................. 138 

Hormatrichum K.g............................................ 44 

“ boreale Eaton ............................................... 45 

“ Carmichaelii Harv....................................... 45 

“ collabens K.g ................................................ 45 

“ speciosum Eaton .......................................... 45 

“ YounganumK.g ........................................... 45 

Hydroclathrus Bory........................................... 89 

Hypneæ......................................................25, 156 

Hypnea L.x ......................................................156 

“ musciformis L.x .........................................156 

“ purpurascens Harv .................................... 147 

Hypoglossum Grayanum Reinsch .................. 163 

“ Leprieurii K.g............................................. 163 

I. 

Iridæa Bory...................................................... 148 

Irish-moss ............................................................ 9 

Isactis Thuret .............................................. 38, 39 

“ plana Thuret .......................................... 10, 39 

J. 

Jania L.x.......................................................... 179 

L. 

Laminariaceæ ........................................ 12, 61, 92 

Laminarieæ.................................................. 17, 90 

Laminaria L.x..................................15, 92, 95, 99 

“ agarum De la Pyl ......................................... 96 

“ apoda Harv................................................... 92 

“ Boryi De la Pyl ............................................. 96 

“ cæspitosa Ag ................................................. 62 


Page. 

Laminaria caperata De la Pyl .....................93, 94 

“ Claustoni Le Jolis .........................................95 

“ debilis Crouan ...............................................62 

“ dermatodea De la Pyl..............................92, 95 

“ digitata L.x ............................................. 92, 94 

“ esculenta De la Pyl ........................................98 

“ “ v. platyphylla De la Pyl ............................98 

“ “ v. remotifolia De la Pyl .............................98 

“ “ v. tæniata De la Pyl ..................................98 

“ fascia Ag.............................................15, 62, 92 

“ fascia Harv ....................................................62 

“ flexicaulis Le Jolis.................................. 94, 95 

“ latifolia Ag .....................................................94 

“ linearis De la Pyl ...........................................97 

“ longicruris De la Pyl............... 5, 10, 92, 93, 94 

“ lorea Ag ....................................................92, 95 

“ musæfolia De la Pyl ......................................97 

“ phyllitis Harv.................................................93 

platymeris De la Pyl............................. 94, 95 

Pylaii Bory ...................................................98 

saccharina L.x................................. 92, 93, 94 

“ v. caperata (De la Pyl.).......................... 94 

“ v. phyllitis Le Jolis ................................ 93 

“ sessilis Ag.......................................................92 

“ solidungula Ag.........................................92, 95 

“ stenoloba De la Pyl ........................................94 

“ trilaminata Olney..........................................92 

Laurencia L.x ...........................................165, 166 

“ Baileyana Mont ...........................................166 

“ dasyphila Ag ........................................166, 167 

“ tenuissima Grev...................................166, 167 

Laver.....................................................................9 

Leathesieæ .................................................. 16, 79 

Leathesia S. F. Gray ............................. 15, 81, 82 

“ difformis Aresch............................................ 82 

“ tuberiformis S. F. Gray........................4, 57, 82 

Leibleinia K.g .....................................................36 

“ amethystea K.g...............................................36 

“ chalytbea K.g..................................................36 

Lemaneæ...........................................................108 

Leptothrix rigidula K.g......................................32 

Liagora L.x .......................................................116 

Linckia atra Lyngb ............................................38 

Lithoderma fatiscens Aresch .............................88 

Lithophyllum Rosanoff ............................179, 180 

“ Lenormandi Rosanoff ..................................181 

Lithothamnion Phil......................................... 182 

“ fasciculatum Aresch ........................................5 

“ polymorphum Aresch ......................... 179, 182 

Litosiphon pusillus Harv ...................................64 

Lomentarieæ ....................................................149 

Lomentaria Thuret ................. 149, 154, 155, 156 

“ Baileyana (Harv.) ........................................4, 6 

“ rosea Thuret................................ 124, 149, 155 

“ uncinata Menegh ............................ 4, 154, 155 

“ “ v. filiformis Harv .................................... 155 

Lyngbya Ag......................................... 11, 34, 183. 

“ æstuarii Liebm ................................... 34, 36 

“ æruginosa Ag .............................................34 

“ Carmichaelii Harv ....................................45 

“ crispa Ag ....................................................34 

“ Cutleriæ Harv............................................45 

“ ferruginea Ag..............................................34 

“ flacca Harv .................................................45 

“ fulva Harv..................................................35


Page. 

Lyngbya luteo-fusca Ag..................................... 35 

“ Kützingiana Thuret ................................... 36 

“ majuscula Harv......................................... 12, 34 

“ nigrescens Harv ......................................... 35 

“ “ v. major Farlow...................................... 35 

“ speciosa Harv............................................... 45 

“ tenerrima Thuret ........................................ 35 

M. 

Macrocystis pyrifera Ag............................. 15, 61 

Melanophyceæ Reinsch ................................... 61 

Melanospermeæ ............................................... 10 

Melobesia Aresch...........................179, 180, 182 

“ farinosa Aresch ........................................ 180 

“ farinosa Harv ........................................... 180 

“ farinosa K.g .............................................. 180 

“ farinosa L.x.......................................180, 181 

“ fasciculata Harv....................................... 182 

“ LeJolisii Rosanoff.............................180, 181 

“ Lenormandi Aresch..................................181 

“ macrocarpa Rosanoff................................181 

“ membranacea Aresch............................... 180 

“ polymorpha Harv ..................................... 182 

“ pustulata L.x .............................................181 

“ verrucata Harv ......................................... 180 

Mermaid’s hair........................................... 12, 34 

Mesogloia Ag...................................... 83, 84, 106 

“ divaricata K.g ............................................. 84 

“ multifida Ag ............................................. 117 

“ vermicularis Ag .................................... 57, 85 

“ virescens Carm ........................................... 85 

“ “ v. Zosteræ K.g......................................... 86 

“ “ v. Zostericola Harv.................................. 86 

“ Zosteræ Aresch ........................................... 86 

Microcoleus Desm............................................ 33 

“ anguiformis Harv....................................... 33 

“ chthonoplastes Thuret ............................... 33 

“ terrestris Desm........................................... 34 

“ versicolor Thuret ........................................ 34 

Microcystis K.g................................................. 28 

“ elabens K.g..................................................... 28 

Microhaloa rosea K.g....................................... 29 

Millepora Auct. 

“ fasciculata L.k .......................................... 182 

“ informis L.k .............................................. 182 

Monostroma (Thuret) Wittr ........................ 8, 41 

“ Blyttii Wittr ............................................ 5, 41 

“ crepidinum Farlow ...................................... 42 

“ Grevillei Wittr ............................................ 41 

“ orbiculatum Thuret.................................... 42 

“ pulchrum Farlow........................................ 41 

“ Wittrockii Bornet........................................ 42 

Myriactis K.g.............................................. 80, 81 

“ pulvinata K.g........................................81, 82 

“ “ v. minor Farlow...................................... 81 

Myriocladia Zosteræ Ag................................... 86 

Myrionemeæ .................................................... 78 

Myrionema Grev................15, 70, 78, 81, 87, 88 

“ clavatum Carm........................................... 88 

“ Leclancherii Harv ...................................... 79 

“ maculiforme K.g ......................................... 79 

“ punctiforme Harv ....................................... 79 

“ strangulans Grev........................................ 79 

“ vulgare Thuret ........................................... 79 

Myriotrichia Harv............................................ 67 

Page. 

Myriotrichia clavæformis Harv........................ 67 

“ “ v. filiformis .............................................. 68 

“ filiformis Harv ..............................................68 

“ Harveyana Naeg .....................................67, 68 

N. 

Nemalieæ................................... 25, 116, 142, 178 

Nemalion Duby ................. 20, 106, 107, 108, 117 

“ multifidum Ag............................................ 117 

“ purpureum Chauv ......................................142 

Nemastoma Ag........................................ 120, 142 

“ Bairdii Farlow........................................ 2, 142 

“ marginifera Ag............................................142 

Nematogenæ Cohn .............................................29 

Nereocystis Post & Rupr ....................................15 

Nitophyllum Grev ................................................7 

“ ocellatum Grev................................................7 

Nodularia Mertens............................................ 31 

“ Harveyana Thuret....................................... 31 

Nostoc Vauch......................................................12 

Nostochineæ .................................................11, 25 

Nullipora Auct .................................................179 

O. 

Odonthalia Lyngb ........................................... 168 

“ dentata Lyngb ....................................... 6, 168 

“ furcata Reinsch...........................................168 

Œdogonium Lk ..................................................60 

Omphalaria Dur. & Mont .................................27 

Oncotylus Norvegicus K.g................................146 

Oosporeæ ......................................... 14, 17, 25, 98 

Oscillaria K.g ........................................ 11, 12, 32 

“ limosa v. chalybea K.g................................. 33 

“ littoralis Harv ...............................................33 

“ subtorulosa (Bréb.) ...................................... 33 

“ subuliformis Harv ....................................... 33 

Osillatoriaceæ ....................................................12 

Oscillatoria, see Oscillaria. 

“ chthonoplastes Lyngb......................................33 

“ Crustacea Schousb........................................36 

Ozothallia D.c.ne & Thuret...............................99 

“ nodosa D.c.ne & Thuret .............................100 

P. 

Padina pavonia Gaillon.......................................7 

Palmellaceæ........................................................26 

Pandorina...........................................................13 

Pelvetia D.c.ne & Thuret ...................................99 

Petrocelis Ag ........................................... 115, 116 

“ cruenta Ag ............................................. 5, 115 

Petrospongium Naeg..........................................16 

Peyssonnelia D.c.ne ........................................ 114 

“ australis Sond.............................................114 

“ Dubyi Crouan ............................................ 114 

“ imbricata K.g..............................................115 

“ squamaria D.c.ne .......................................114 

Phæosporeæ .................... 13, 14, 25, 61, 106, 183 

Phæozoosporeæ, see Phæosporeæ. 

Phlebothamnion byssoides K.g........................127 

“ polyspermum K.g........................................126 

“ roseum K.g ..................................................125 

“ seirospermum K.g.......................................129 

Phlæospora Aresch ........................................5, 66 

“ tortilis Aresch .................................................5 

Phloiocaulon Geyler ..........................................77

208 

Page. 

Phormidium K.g ............................................... 36 

“ Kützingianum Le Jolis................................ 36 

“ subtorulosum Bréb...................................... 33 

Phycochromaceæ....................................... 26, 111 

Phycophila K.g............................................ 80, 81 

“ Agardhii K.g................................................ 81 

“ Arabica K.g.................................................. 82 

“ fucorum K.g ................................................. 81 

Phyllitis Le Jolis .......................15, 17, 62, 88, 92 

“ cæspitosa Le Jolis ........................................ 62 

“ fascia K.g ................................................. 5, 62 

“ “ v. cæspitosa Harv..................................... 62 

Phyllophora Grev....................................145, 146 

“ Brodiæi Ag .............................................4, 145 

“ Clevelandii Farlow .................................... 145 

“ membranifolia Ag...................................4, 145 

Phycoseris australis K.g ................................... 42 

“ crispata K.g................................................. 43 

“ gigantea K.g .......................................... 42, 43 

“ lanceolata K.g ............................................. 43 

“ myriotrema K.g ............................................ 42 

Physactis atropurpurea K.g.............................. 39 

“ obducens K.g ............................................... 39 

“ plicata K.g................................................... 39 

Pleonosporium Naeg .......................................124 

Pleurococcus crepidinum Rab........................... 28 

“ roseo-persicinus Rab ................................... 29 

Plocamium Lyngb............................................150 

“ Californicum K.g ....................................... 151 

“ coccineum Lyngb ......................................151 

Pœcilothamnion byssoideum Naeg................. 127 

“ corymbosum Naeg..................................... 128 

“ seirospermum Naeg .................................. 129 

Polyides Ag ................................................21, 160 

“ rotundus Grev ...............................4, 118, 160 

Polycystis K.g .................................................... 28 

“ elabens K.g .................................................. 28 

“ pallida K.g ................................................... 28 

Polysiphonia Grev ...................168, 169, 176, 177 

“ affinis Harv ............................................... 175 

“ Americana Reinsch ................................... 172 

“ arctica Ag....................................................... 5 

“ arietina Bailey........................................... 172 

“ atro-rubescens Grev ..................................174 

“ Brodiæi Grev ............................................. 173 

“ elongata Grev ............................................172 

“ fastigiata Grev.......................................4, 175 

“ fibrillosa Grev....................................172, 173 

“ formosa Harv............................................. 170 

“ Harveyi Bailey.......................6, 170, 171, 172 

“ nigrescens Grev .....................................4, 174 

“ “ v. affinis Ag ...........................................174 

“ “ v. Durkeei Harv ....................................174 

“ “ v. fucoides Ag........................................174 

“ Olneyi Harv ...........................6, 136, 171, 172 

“ parasitica Grev ..........................................174 

“ “ v. dendroidea........................................... 174 

“ spinulosa Grev........................................... 172 

“ subcontorta Peck........................................ 170 

“ subtilissima Mont................................170, 171 

“.. “ v. Westpointensis Harv.......................171 

“ urceolata Grev .......................................4, 170 

“ “ v. formosa Ag........................................170 

“ “ v. patens Grev ......................................170 

“ variegata Ag...........................4, 173, 175, 177 


Page. 

Polysiphonia violacea Grev......................... 4, 173 

“ “ v. flexicaulis Harv ................................. 173 

Porphyreæ........................................ 25, 106, 110 

Porphyra Ag........................................... 110, 111 

“ laciniata Ag ..................................... 111, 112 

“ leucosticta Thuret.....................................112 

“ linearis Grev.............................................111 

“ vulgaris Harv .......................................9, 111 

Potamogeton L ..................................................10 

Prionitis Ag .....................................................141 

Protococcus crepidinum Thuret .......................27 

“ rosea K.g .....................................................29 

“ turgidus K.g................................................27 

Protophytes .................................................11, 26 

Pseudoblaste Reinsch ............................ 109, 110 

“ irregularis Reinsch.................................. 110 

Pterocladia Ag.........................................157, 158 

Pterothamnion Americanum Naeg ................123 

“ floccosum Naeg .........................................122 

“ Pylaisæi Naeg ...........................................123 

Ptilota Ag................................................ 133, 174 

“ elegans Bonnem................................... 4, 133 

“ plumosa Ag ...............................................134 

“ “ v. tenuissima Ag ..................................133 

“ serrata K.g ....................................... 6, 8, 133 

Punctarieæ ................................................. 16, 63 

Punctaria Grev........................................... 63, 90 

“ latifolia Grev .............................................. 64 

“ “ v. Zosteræ Le Jolis................................ 64 

“ plantaginea Grev ....................................... 64 

“ tenuissima Grev ..........................................64 

Pylaiella Bory ............................................. 68, 73 

“ littoralis Kjellm...........................................73 

R. 

Ralfsieæ ...................................................... 17, 86 

Ralfsia Berk .................................... 15, 79, 87, 88 

“ clavata Crouan ............................... 79, 87, 88 

“ deusta J. Ag................................................ 87 

“ deusta Berk..................................................87 

“ verrucosa Aresch.................................... 5, 87 

Rhabdonia Ag ................................. 147, 149, 158 

“ Baileyi Harv ..............................................159 

“ tenera Ag ...................................... 4, 6, 7, 159 

Rhizoclonium K.g.............................................. 48 

“ Kochianum K.g........................................... 49 

“ Linum Thuret..............................................47 

“ riparium Roth............................................. 49 

“ salinum K.g..................................................49 

“ tortuosum K.g............................................. 49 

Rhodochorton Naeg ................................ 120, 121 

“ Rothii Naeg........................................121, 133 

Rhodoineleæ...................................... 25, 164, 177 

Rhodomela J. Ag ............................. 165, 168, 176 

“ gracilis Harv ..............................................169 

“ Rochei Harv ...............................................169 

“ subfusca Ag............................................... 169 

“ “ v. gracilior Ag ....................................... 169 

Rhodonema elegans Martens ..........................177 

Rhodophylleæ.................................................. 149 

Rhodophyllis K.g ............................. 149, 152, 153 

“ bifida K.g ...................................................152 

“ dichotoma Lepechin...................................153 

“ veprecula Ag ......................... 5, 149, 152, 153 

“ “ v. cirrhata Harv.................................... 152


Page. 

Rhodospermeæ .................................... 10, 19, 106 

Rhodymenieæ....................25, 149, 158, 161, 164 

Rhodymenia Ag.......................145, 150, 151, 152 

“ cristata Grev ............................................. 153 

“ palmata Grev............................4, 9, 142, 150 

“ “ v. Sarniensis........................................150 

Rivularia Roth............................................. 11, 37 

“ atra Roth..................................................... 38 

“ hospita Thuret............................................ 38 

“ nitida Farlow ........................................ 39, 40 

“ parasitica Chauvin..................................... 37 

“ plicata Carm ............................................... 38 

'' tuberiformis Engl. Bot................................ 82 

Ruppia maritima L............................................. 9 

Rytiphlæa Ag................................................... 168 

S. 

Saccharomycetes ............................................... 26 

Saccorhiza De la Pyl ................................... 92, 95 

“ bulbosa De la Pyl........................................ 95 

“ dermatodea De la Pyl ............................. 5, 95 

Sargassum Ag ...........................................99, 103 

“ bacciferum Ag ...........................................103 

“ Montagnei Bailey...................................... 103 

“ vulgare Ag.........................................4, 6, 103 

“ “ v. Montagnei Farlow ............................103 

Scinaia Bivona ................................................117 

“ furcellata Bivona ......................118, 142, 155 

“ “ v. undulata Mont ................................. 118 

Schizophytæ Cohn............................................. 26 

Schizosiphon K.g............................................... 36 

“ fasciculatus K.g ........................................... 36 

“ lasiopus K.g................................................. 36 

“ parasiticus Le Jolis..................................... 37 

Schizymenia Ag................................................... 7 

Scytosiphoneæ................................................... 15 

Scytosiphon Thuret...................15, 63, 66, 88, 91 

“ filum Ag........................................................ 91 

“ fœniculaceus Ag ........................................... 66 

“ hippuroides Lyngb ...................................... 66 

“ comentarius Ag ................................. 5, 63, 89 

Seirospora Harv ..............................120, 121, 129 

“ Griffithsiana Harv .................................... 129 

Siphoneæ............................................................ 58 

Solierieæ ............................................25, 149, 158 

Soliera chordalis Harv............................ 148, 159 

Spermatochnus rhizodes K.g............................ 90 

Spermosira K.g.................................................. 31 

“ Harveyana Thwaites................................... 31 

Spermothamnieæ ......................................25, 118 

Spermothamnion Aresch ........118, 120, 125, 131 

“ flabellatum Born ........................................ 119 

“ hermaphroditum (Naeg.).......................... 119 

“ roseolum Ag ............................................... 119 

“ Turneri Aresch ..........................................119 

“ “ v. variabile Harv..................................119 

Sphacelarieæ ............................................... 16, 75 

Sphacelaria Lyngb....................................... 15, 75 

“ cirrhosa Ag................................................... 76 

“ dædalea Reinsch ......................................... 77 

“ fusca Ag ........................................................ 76 

“ olivacea Ag................................................... 76 

“ plumosa Lyngb............................................. 77 

“ radicans Harv......................................76, 133 

“ tribuloides Menegh ..................................... 73 

S. Miss. 59r——14 

Page. 

Sphænosiphon Reinsch..................................... 61 

“ olivaceus Reinsch....................................... 61 

“ roseus Reinsch ........................................... 61 

“ smaragdinus Reinsch ................................ 61 

Sphæria Hall .....................................................10 

Sphærococcoideæ .............................. 25, 149, 161 

Sphærococcus coronopifolius Ag.....................154 

“ cristatus Ag................................................153 

“ Norvegicus Ag ...........................................146 

“ plicatus Ag..................................................147 

“ Torreyi Ag..................................................146 

Sphærozyga Ag................................................. 30 

“ Carmichaelii Harv ..................................... 30 

Spirulina Turpin......................................... 12, 31 

“ Thuretii Crouan ..........................................31 

“ tenuissima K.g ........................................... 31 

Spongiocarpeæ.......................................... 25, 160 

Spongites K.g ...................................................179 

Spongomorpha K.g ..................................... 50, 52 

Spongonema tomentosum K.g...........................70 

Sporochnaceæ ............................................61, 183 

Sporochneæ................................................. 17, 89 

Sporochnus rhizodes Ag ....................................90 

Spyridieæ .................................................. 25, 139 

Spyridia Harv ................................................. 140 

“ filamentosa Harv............................ 8, 20, 140 

“ “ v. refracta Harv................................... 140 

Striaria Grev..................................................... 90 

“ attenuata Grev ........................................... 90 

Squamarieæ ............................ 8, 21, 25, 113, 178 

Stictosiphonia H. & H .....................................176 

Stigonema Ag.....................................................67 

“ mamillosum Ag ...........................................40 

Stilophora Ag ............................................ 89, 183 

“ Lyngbyei Ag .................................................90 

“ papillosa Ag ..................................................90 

“ rhizodes Ag ................................................. 90 

Streblonema Derb. & Sol................ 24, 57, 68, 69 

“ fasciculatum Thuret.....................................69 

“ sphæricum Thuret.......................................69 

Stypocaulon K.g .................................................75 

Symploca K.g................................................... 183 

“ fasciculata K.g .......................................... 183 

Synalissa Fr .......................................................27 

T. 

Tænioma Ag .....................................................177 

Thallophytes.......................................................10 

Thamnidium Rothii Thuret ............................121 

Tilopteris K.g .......................................................7 

Tremella diformis L ...........................................82 

Trentepohlia Pringsh.......................................108 

“ Daviesii Harv.................................... 108, 109 

“ virgatula (Harv.)............................... 108, 109 

“ “ v. secundata (Lyngb.).......................... 109 

U. 

Ulothrix (K.g.) Thuret....................................... 44 

“ collabens (Ag.) Thuret ................................ 45 

“ flacca (Dillw.) Thuret.................................. 45 

“ isogona Thuret ............................................. 45 

“ zonata K.g ....................................................45 

Ulvaceæ ............................................................111 

Ulveæ ..............................................................8, 13 

Ulva (L.) Le Joli .......................................... 41, 42

210 

Page. 

Ulva Blyttii Aresch............................................ 41 

“ clathrata Ag ................................................. 44 

“ “ v. Rothiana Le Jolis ............................... 44 

“ compressa L ........................................... 43, 44 

“ enteromorpha Le Jolis ................................ 43 

“ “ v. compressa Le Jolis .............................. 43 

“ “ v. intestinalis Le Jolis.......................43, 44 

“ “ v. lanceolata Le Jolis .............................. 43 

“. Hopkirkii (McCalla) Harv........................... 44 

“ Lactuca Grev................................................ 41 

“ Lactuca (L.) Le Jolis.................................... 42 

“ “ v. Lactuca Le Jolis .................................. 43 

“ “ v. latissima Le Jolis ................................ 43 

“ v. rigida Le Jolis................................... 42 

“ latissima Ag................................................. 42 

“ latissima Harv............................................. 43 

“ Linza Auct ............................................. 41, 43 

“ rigida Ag...................................................... 42 

“ sobolifera Fl. Dan ...................................... 143 

Urospora penicilliformis Aresch....................... 45 

V. 

Vaucherieæ ..........................................18, 25, 104 


Page. 

Vaucheria D.C ......................... 14, 40, 59, 60, 104 

“ clavata Lyngb.............................................105 

“ geminata Walz ...........................................105 

“ litorea Nordstedt............................... 105, 106 

“ pilobiloides Farlow ....................................105 

“ Thuretii Wor.............................................. 104 

“ velutina Ag .................................................105 

Verrucaria. 

“ maura T. Fr.....................................................10 

“ mucosa T. Fr ................................................10 

“ palodytes Nyl................................................28 

W. 

Wrangelieæ .......................................................120 

Wrangelia Ag............................................119, 123 

“ penicellata Ag..............................................119 

“ Pylaisæi Ag.................................................123 

Z. 

Zannichellia palustris L ....................................10 

Zonotrichia hemisphærica Ag ...........................38 

Zostera marina L .................................................9 

Zoosporoeæ ...................................... 12, 17, 25, 40

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 211

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Digitized by Eric Roberts (Department of Biology, Rhode Island College) and Alex Frost 

(Cryptogamic Botany Company). This compilation copyright 1999-2006.

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