from which it differs remarkably in the thickened margin of the frond not being siuuated, but proliferous; in the leaves all being petiolate and arising from the margin, and not from lacinise of the frond ; and in the position of the fructification.
We have, in figuring the nobler species of this and some other genera, endeavoured to commemorate the services rendered to the botany of the Antarctic regions by those officers of the Antarctic Expedition who particularly devoted themselves to increasing the botanical collections. Their names appear to be more properly associated with the Alga, than with any other tribe of plants ; comprising, as these do, the greater part of the vegetation of that element which these gentlemen have adopted for their home, and being natives of the regions they have so successfully explored.
Plate CLXXV. Fig 1, apex of frond and sori ; fig. 2, portion of ditto showing the spherospores: — highly magnified.
18. NITOPHYLLUM, Grev.
1. Nitophyliajm lividum, Hook. fil. et Harv.; fronde e stipite brevi filiformi cartilagineo late expansa tenerrirna basi vix venosa furcata v. dichotoma margine undulata livido-purpurea, laciniis patentibus oblongis obtusis, soris rninutissimis pimctiforrnibus coccidiisque perplurimis per totam frondem sparsis. Nobis in Lond. Journ. Bot. vol. iv. p. 253. (Tab. CLXXIX.)
Hab. Falkland Islands ; Berkeley Sound and Port William, not uncommon.
Stipes cartilagineus, filiformis, - 1 unc. longus, ad basin frondis evanidus. Frons 4 unc. longa, 6 v. plures lata, in lacinias paucas latiusculas furcatas apice obtusas divaricatas divisa, avenia, nisi ad imam basin, ubi stipes in venas breves evanidas abiit. Substantia tenerrima. Color livide purpureus, ut in Forphyra, sed vix nitens.
The colour affords a very distinctive character for this species, in which particular it resembles only one of its congeners, the N. G-unnian/un, Harv., of Tasmania. But that plant, is of a much thicker texture and less lubricous. A single imperfect specimen from Cape Horn probably belongs to the N. lividum. Of the mass of radiating spores contained in the capsules of the species, only those at the base of the cavity are fertile.
Plate CLXXIX. Fig. 1, sori ; fig. 2, capsule ; fig. 3, vertical section of the same ; fig. 4, portion of ditto: — all highly magnified.
2. Nitothytjjjm fusco-ruZirvm, Hook. fil. et Harv.; stipite filiformi elongato nunc dichotome ramoso nudo, ramis frondiferis, frondibus flabelliformibus lobatis v. longitudirialiter fissis crasso-membranaceis fusco-rubriSj basi cuneatis in stipitem gradatim angustatis tenuiter venosis, margine piano subintegerrimo, apicibus (exemplaribus nostris) laceris, soris minutissimis punctiformibus coccidiisque liumerosissimis per totam frondem sparsis. Nobis in Lond. Journ. Bot. vol. iv. p. 254.
Hab. Kerguelen's Land ; parasitical on larger sea-weeds in Christmas Harbour.
Stipes 1-8 unc. longus, simplex v. irregulariter ramosus, ramis in frondes cuneatas elongatas exeuntibus. Frondes 3-5 unc. longae, latitudine variae, ima basi obscure venosa;, irregulariter profunde fissae, laciniis cuneatis linearibusve. Sori minimi, inconspicui. Spharosporce plerumque solitaries, per totam paginam frondis creberrhne sparsse. Coceidia frondibus distinctis numerosa. Substantia firma, basi subcartilaginea. Color luride fusco-ruber. — Stirps N. idvoideo, Hook, similis, sed abunde differt colore, sphserosporis sparsis, stipiteque ramoso elongato.
Apparently a native of Kerguelen's Land only, where it was found sparingly, adhering to the stems of larger Algoe.. The colour, texture, and branching stem at once distinguish this from its congeners.
3. Nitophylldm Crozieri, Hook. fil. et Harv.; fronde basi longe cuneata in stipitem angustata lineari-lanceolata v. ovata v. late ovato-lanceolata integerrima v. in lacinias plurimas longitudinaliter fissa enervi
