. Contributions from the New York Botanical Garden. Plants. ONE OF THE STONY, LIME-SECRETING CORAL-LIKE SEA PLANTS, Goniolithon stric- turn, from Key West, Florida. (About one half natural size). AN ENCRUSTING SEAWEED, Goniolithon solubilc, growing on a living coral, from Porto Rico. (About two thirds natural size.) The lime-secreting plant is conquering the lime-se- creting colonial animal, gradually covering and smothering the coral polyps display a reef must make when exposed, or even when visible through calm water. There are coralline alga? which grow at- tached to the shells of members o
. Contributions from the New York Botanical Garden. Plants. ONE OF THE STONY, LIME-SECRETING CORAL-LIKE SEA PLANTS, Goniolithon stric- turn, from Key West, Florida. (About one half natural size). AN ENCRUSTING SEAWEED, Goniolithon solubilc, growing on a living coral, from Porto Rico. (About two thirds natural size.) The lime-secreting plant is conquering the lime-se- creting colonial animal, gradually covering and smothering the coral polyps display a reef must make when exposed, or even when visible through calm water. There are coralline alga? which grow at- tached to the shells of members of the clam or mussel family. The intimate at- tachment is probably unwelcome to the clam, although the overshadowing pres- ence of the shrubby stonelike alga may ren- der the clam a service by covering and protecting it from some of its enemies. The alga? in general are not very particular as to their points of attachment, although something substantial and firm in the way of a substratum seems usually to be pre- ferred. Living corals are found only in the warmer seas; coral-like plants occur not only in the tropics, but also in temperate and frigid waters. Explorers in the Arctic regions have reported great beds of them on the floor of the ocean, mostly in water that is from 60 to 120 feet deep. A few years ago the Royal Society of London sent a party of naturalists to the South Pacific to study the mode of origin of the so-called coral islands. The island of Funafuti of the Ellice Islands group was chosen for special study because it was believed to be "a true coral ; By means of a drill, borings were made to a depth of a little more than 1100 feet, the cores brought up were carefully studied, and the various groups of animals and plants that had contributed to the up- building of this island were ranked in order of their relative importance. The first rank was given to red algse of the coralline family; the second to lime-se- creting green alga? of the genus
Size: 1701px × 1469px
Photo credit: © The Book Worm / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectplants, bookyear1899
