The English flora - SeaweedAfrica

810 ALG.E INARTICULATE. [Porphyra.
branaceous substance and reticulated structure, rarely gelatinous.
Frond with a very minutely scutate root, expanded, or tubular and
continuous. Fructification, roundish and mostly quaternate granules
or minute sporular grains, imbedded in the delicate membrane
of the frond.
46. Porphyra. Ag. Porphyra, or Purple- Laver.
Frond plane, exceedingly thin and of a purple colour. Fructification
;— 1. scattered sori of oval seeds; —2. roundish granules,
mostly arranged in a quaternate manner, and covering the
whole frond. Grev. Alg. Brit. p. 168. t.'\§.—Name; no^v^s,
purple ; in allusion to the colour of the fronds;— a beautiful
Genus, distinguished by the delicacy and colour and glossy hue
of the frond ; the species of which I fear are too closely allied.
1. P. lacinidta, Ag. (laciniated purple-Laver); fronds aggregated
deeply cleft the segments dilated, variously cut and
waved. Grev. Alg. Brit. p. 168. Alga laciniata, Lightf. Scot.
p. 974. t. 33. Ag. Sp. Alg. v. I. p. 104 Ulva umbilicalis,
E. Bot. t. 2296.
In the sea, on rocks, stones, Algae and wood, abundant. 0. Spring to
Autumn.—This, under the name of Laver, is much eaten in many places,
especially the south of England, pickled with salt and preserved in jars,
and, when brought to table, served up with lemon juice. According to
Lightfoot, the inhabitants of the western isles gather it in the month of
March, and after pounding and macerating it with a little water, eat it with
pepper, vinegar, and butter. Others stew it with leeks and onions.
Dr. Greville describes the fructification, as— 1. roundish granules arranged
in fours and covering the whole frond in which they are imbedded;
and 2. sori of smaller ovate grajiules scattered without order
chiefly towards the margin of the frond.
—
—
2. P. vidgdris, Ag. {common purple-Laver); frond ovato-lan-
ceolate, the margins more or less waved. Grev. Alg. Brit,
p. 169.— Ulva purpurea, Roth, Cat. Bot. v. 1. t. 6. Ag. Sp.
Alg. p. 191.— Ulva umbilicalis, Lightf.
In the same situations as the preceding, from which I should fear it is
not really different. 0. Spring to Autumn.—A foot or more long. Dr.
Greville saw a specimen which measured 3 feet. The same author
observes that the quaternate granules are smaller here than in the preceding
species.
3. P.? minidta, Ag. (scarlet purple-Laver); frond solitary
plane oblong gelatinous red-rose colour. Ag. Syst. p. 191.
Carm.MSS Ulva miniata, Lyngb. Hydroph. Dan. p. 29. t. 6.
In the sea: coast of Appin, Capt. Carmichael—" My only authority
for claiming this plant as a native of these shores, was a fragment found
floating in the sea. It was three inches in diameter, plane, curled on the
margin, of a bright sanguineous colour, extremely gelatinous and filled
with close-set roundish sporidia. When laid on paper to dry, it dissolved
into a reddish sanies, being probably in a state of putrescence,
and nothing remained but a mere stain. From its texture and fructification,
it evidently does not belong to this genus." Carm. MSS.
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