. Ecological and systematic studies of the Ceylon species of Caulerpa. Marine algae. THE CEYLON SPECIES OF CAITLERPA. 135 Kjellman accentuated that the generally shortish vertical axes are thickly clothed or perfectly covered from base to apex with branchlets, which are disciformly flattened at the apex with a diameter of 3-4 mm. (fig. 39) Tliis character is quite sufficient for distinguishing this little Caulerpa, which in Ceylon is rather common in the Uttoral zone. Figs. 37 and 38 show pictures of it. It is generally tufted very thickly and seen from above one sees nothing of such a one but
. Ecological and systematic studies of the Ceylon species of Caulerpa. Marine algae. THE CEYLON SPECIES OF CAITLERPA. 135 Kjellman accentuated that the generally shortish vertical axes are thickly clothed or perfectly covered from base to apex with branchlets, which are disciformly flattened at the apex with a diameter of 3-4 mm. (fig. 39) Tliis character is quite sufficient for distinguishing this little Caulerpa, which in Ceylon is rather common in the Uttoral zone. Figs. 37 and 38 show pictures of it. It is generally tufted very thickly and seen from above one sees nothing of such a one but the close vertical axes nearly quite covered with branchlets. The origin of this form can be imagined in various ways. One is that it is derived from a parvula form (see below) in which the branches have been erected and have afterwards radiated, at the same time as the branclilets have become somewhat larger. Some transition forms (/. minor) between these two species—which have the mode of branching of C. imbricata and the size of the discs of C. parvula—also point to the fact that such a development must not be considered as only a hypothesis and without any real foundation. As a matter of fact, these forms also occur in almost the same localities in the upper part of the littoral zone. But C. imbricata can be imagined also to have originated in another way. If we study its organi- zation we might give this as its characterization : C. imbricata is a somewhat dwarfed C. uvifera in which the branchlets have become somewhat disciformly flattened. In reality forms of this kind do occur which derive directly from uvifera by change of spherical branchlets to flattened ones. C. uvifera f. planiuscula is such a form. Moreover, there are some transition forms collected by Kjellman at Galle and by mjrself at Jaffna, which point to a relationship with peltata main form (fig. 41). If in such a one the vertical branches are shortened and get a more one-sided direction, at the same t
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