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94
THE MARINE ALGÆ OF NEW ENGLAND.
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