The English flora - SeaweedAfrica

278 ALGiE INARTICULATE. [Punclarla.
as Dr. Greville observes " as nearly as possible at the same time with
that of Lamouroux, 1813;" and, being a compliment to our greatest
British Algologist, should have the preference.
5. A. compressus, (compressed Asperococcus) ; frond flat thickened
at the edges rather short attenuated at both extremities
here and there slightly contracted gelatinous.
—
A. compressus,
Mrs. Griffiths' MSS.
Kocks on the south coast of England, rare. Meadfoot, Sidmouth
and Torquay, Mrs. Griffiths. 0. Summer.—To Mrs. Griffiths is entirely
due the merit of discovering and distinguishing this Alga, which
is from 3 to 6 inches in height and from 3 lines to .nearly an
inch in diameter, " tender and gelatinous in all stages, always flat, but
consisting of a double membrane united at the edges, which, when the
plant is fresh, are considerably thickened : there is not the slightest tendency
to be tubular or inflated."—The larger fronds are often invested
with a parasite, apparently a young Entermorpha and with Ceramium
diaphanum. This plant may, as Mrs. Griffiths observes, be considered
intermediate between Asperococcus and Punctaria.
15. Punctaria. Grev. Punctaria.
Frond simple, membranaceous, flat, with a naked scutate root.
Fructification scattered over the whole frond in minute distinct
spots, composed of roundish prominent seeds, intermixed with
club-shaped filaments. Grev. Alg. Brit. p. 52. t. 9 Name
derived from the Latin (contrary to a Linnsean axiom, though a
practice sanctioned by many eminent Botanists besides the author
of this Genus) punctum, a dot; the numerous fructifications
exhibiting a dotted appearance.
1. P'. plantaginea, Grev. (plantain-leaved Punctaria); frond
coriaceo-membranaceous attenuated at the base into a short
stipes reddish-brown.— Grev. Alg. Brit. p. 53. t. 9. Zonaria?
plantaginea, Ag. Sp. Alg. v. 1. p. 138 Viva plantaginea,
Roth.~E. Bot. t. 2136. Lyngb. Hydroph. Dan. p. 31. t. 6.
Marine rocks, Sidmouth and Torbay, Mrs. Griffiths. Near Belfast,
Dr. Drummond. 0. April, May.— Of this fine species I possess excellent
specimens from Mrs. Griffiths, 6—10 inches long; that
lady describes them to be " of a thick, gelatinous (hence shrinking
much in drying) and tender substance, yet brittle, breaking when bent
without great care; every where covered with short hair-like fibres which
give it a satiny feel." She rightly distinguishes it from the preceding,
which (independent of its different outline,) is " thin, membranaceous,
leathery, smoother and with a different fructification." In the present
species, Dr. Greville, who had the opportunity of examining specimens
in a recent state, says the " fructification represents minute dots, scattered
over the whole surface, composed of roundish seeds intermixed
with linear-elliptical, articulated, short filaments, filled with a dark reddish
mass."
2. P. latifolia, Grev. (broad-leaved Punctaria); frond olivaceous
thick subgelatinous tender oblong or obovate suddenly
tapering into a very short stipes.— Grev. Alg. Brit. p. 52.
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