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REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 101
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