Three Alga Collection in the Ulster Museum HerbariumAuthor(s): Osborne MortonSource: The Irish Naturalists' Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Jan., 1980), pp. 33-37Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25538363 .

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Ir. Nat. J. Vol. 20 No. 1 1980 33

We are currently gathering information for a proposed Ulster Museum exhibition of

Templeton illustrations in mid-1980 and for a publication on his life and work. We would be

most grateful for any information on Robert Templeton but particularly seek:?

1. Information on the relations between R. Templeton and 19th century naturalists in

Ireland and Britain.

2. References to publications by R. Templeton, or communications from him, on any

aspect of natural history. 3. Information on the relations between R. Templeton and James Emerson Tennent, Dr

Davey, Dr Kinnis, Edward Blyth, Edgar Layard, Dr Kelaart, Frederick Moore and

G. R. Gray. 4. Biographic information on R. Templeton. 5. Samples of the handwriting (photocopies) of Francis Walker, Frederick Moore,

G. R. Gray, Edgar Layard, Robert Templeton and James Emerson Tennent in the

period 1840-1860. The authors will be pleased to acknowledge fully all contributions both in the

exhibition and in associated and ensuing publications. They would also like to record their grateful thanks to the Ulster Museum for generously funding the publication of Plates 3 and 4.

THREE ALGA COLLECTION IN THE ULSTER MUSEUM HERBARIUM

Osborne Morton

Department of Botany, Ulster Museum, Belfast 9

Three Ulster Museum (BEL) algal collections, have been numbered 13,14 and 15 in continuation of a system begun by M. W. Rea in 1916. They total about 350 specimens

mounted on 191 sheets. This paper gives a brief outline of their contents.

Collection 13

Collection 13 consists of about 300 specimens from Ireland, Britain and the Channel Islands which were found either attached to, or loose between, the pages of two similar

albums each entitled simply "Algae." All, save twenty-three specimens of diatoms and a

few specimens of Chondrus crispus Stackh., were remounted on 155 sheets and

accessioned under the numbers: F1340-F1494.

The nomenclature has been updated in accordance with Parke and Dixon 1976. With

one exception there appeared to be no gross misidentifications, however some require determination or confirmation at species level. In many cases the specimens are without

date or location. However others were collected by such well known phycologists as W. H.

Harvey, W. S. Hore, S. A Brenan, W. Macalla, W. Thompson, W. H. Grattann, G.

Sanders, and C. Cutler. There are also other handwritings which are as yet unidentified.

The identification of the collector is more difficult on those specimens which show more than one form of handwriting. It seems many specimens were exchanged and often the

receiver wrote part of the label?usually the name of the donor. Some specimens had even

been cut in two after mounting, in three cases in this collection (F1403, F1449 and F1491) specimens which had been cut in two and separated have been reunited. The dates, where

known, of Collection 13 fall between 1832 and 1872.

Judging from the handwriting thirty-five to forty specimens were probably collected by W. H. Harvey?the most famous of Irish phycologists. That he did indeed collect at least two is supported by two labels in particular. One, Gymnogongrus crenulatus (Turn.) J.Ag. from Malbay (F1342), is labelled "Dr. Harvey". However although the species name and

location are in Harvey-like handwriting, the "Dr. Harvey" is in another hand. A further

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34 Ir. Nat. J. Vol. 20 No. 1 1980

specimen (F1370) is also labelled in what appears to be Harvey's hand followed by ' "Ectocarpus W. H.'' in pencil, probably in S. A. Brenan' s writing, the

4' W. H.'' probably

referring to Harvey. One specimen of special interest is identified as Callithamnion tetragonum (With.)

S. F. Gray (F1403) with "Malbay" written on the back in what appears to be Harvey's hand. Part of it had been cut off and was found in Collection 11?a large collection which includes, among others, 101 specimens of Harvey's from Ceylon, Friendly Island and

Australia (Morton 1977). The two pieces when laid side by side were seem to have been

originally part of the one pressed specimen. The part from Collection 11 showed the location, Malbay, in Harvey's writing in ink and the determination in Brenan's hand. Seven

of the diatom specimens from Kilkeel and Cork Harbour are also labelled in Harvey's hand. Six specimens were collected by the Rev. William Strong Hore. Hore was born in

Stonehouse in Plymouth in 1809 and died in Barnstaple, Devon 1882. He is known to have sent algae to Harvey (Britten and Boulger 1931), no doubt he sent specimens to others also.

Three six specimens bear Hore's name, although in one case it was probably written by Brenan. Further examples of Brenan's handwriting were found on the back of some of the

other specimens collected by Hore. A further seven also show what is probably Hore's

writing. All of these specimens were collected in Devon or Cornwall between the years 1846 and 1866. They include some

interesting species such as Pleonosporium horreri (Sm.)

Nag. ex Hauck (F1445) and Griffithsia devoniensis Harv. (F1449). The first of these species is represented by four specimens, one of which was collected at "Devenport" and another at what appears to be "St. Germains" probably St. Germans (Cornwall). The latter

specimen is dated 6.8.46, the specimen from Devonport is undated. Of the two

specimens of G. devoniensis one had been cut in two, the other part was found in Collection 11. Hore's notes on the back giving species name and date had been cut through and the

species name rewritten by Brenan on the unnamed part. The other specimen of G. devoniensis has not been cut and has what appears to be both Brenan's and Hore's writing.

The writing of Samuel Arthur Brenan {1837-1908) appears, s has already been noted, on specimens collected by Harvey and Hore. It seems probable that he received these

specimens in donation or exchange. Other specimens in Collection 13 also show Brenan's

writing but in many cases they are without location. The Rev. Brenan is more closely associated with the "higher" plants than with the algae, he published notes mainly on

Antrim animals and plants and chiefly in the Irish Naturalist (Praeger 1949). The small neat writing of William Thompson (1805-1852) occurs on four specimens

only and of these three show Brenan's writing on the back. Two also show a third, as yet unidentified, handwriting which occurs elsewhere in Collection 13.

W. Thompson and J. Templeton "form the two most noticeable of naturalists that

Belfast has produced" (Praeger 1949). Thompson was highly talented and a great loss when he died at the age of forty-seven. There are five large albums of W. Thompson's in the Ulster Museum as well as specimens collected by him in the main herbarium. The albums include many interesting specimens donated to him by other ell known botanists.

One specimen collected by W. H. Grattann (fl. 1873) is included in the collection, it is Bryopsis hypnoides Lamour. found: "In a rockpool Torbay 1872". "Mr. Grattann" has been added in pencil by another hand. Grattann (1874?) referred to his finding of this species: "One autumn I took one solitary specimen of the little gem leaving a considerable

portion of it still growing on a plant of Corallina officinalis, in an out-of-the-way rockpool.

The following season I was rewarded for my forbearance by finding in the same rockpool, and in another adjacent, quite a submarine plantation of this rare and lovely chlorosperm. The illustration [not reproduced here] is from one of the specimens of B. hypnoides taken by me in October, 1872, and I rejoice to say that it then exceeded in abundance?at least in

Torbay?its beautiful but much more generally known companion." Our specimen is therefore a voucher specimen for Grattann's published record.

Five specimens in Collection 13 have the name of "Macalla" or "McCalla" on them and a sixth is labelled in writing closely resembling four of these. Two of these specimens

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Ir. Nat. J. Vol. 20 No. 1 1980 35

also show handwriting almost certainly Brenan's. Only one is dated?1841, and all are

Irish. M'Calla (c. 1814-1849), the name is usually spelt in this manner, sent algae to other

phycologists and his exisiccatae Algae Hibernicae were issued in two volumes (1845 and 1848), copies of which are in the Ulster Museum. He received the Royal Dublin Society

Silver Medal for Volume I (Eager and Scannell 1978). Other colectors are represented by sinle specimens, one such is Plumaria elegans

(Bonnem.) Schm. collected at Littleham Cove, Exmouth, on 11 June 1858 by iss Kendale. This name is unknown to me and does not appear in either Britten and Boulger (1931) or Desmond (1977).

Another specimen is initialled "G.S." and labelled 'Desmarestia viridis everywhere Plymouth". No doubt this is one of Gilbert Sanders' (fl. 1849-65) specimens for he is associated with the genus and published a paper concerning its fructification (Sanders 1860). It is the only specimen of his in Collection 13.

Comparing the handwriting with that on other specimens in the herbarium it appears that there is also one specimen collected by C. Cutler, which is identified on the back,

probably in the writing of Brenan, as Polysiphonia fibrillosa (Dillw.) Spreng. The location is given as Sidmouth and the date as September 3, 1833. There are also two

specimens of diatoms from Sidmouth labelled in the same handwriting. Catherine Cutler (?1866) (Desmond 1977) donated specimens to other collectors also, for specimens of hers have

been found in other albums in the herbarium.

The bulk of the other localised specimens can be organised into groups based on the different handwritings which can be recognised but as yet remain unidentified. Other

problems also remain, among them locations such as "Temters Cove" and what looks like

"Julgoland". The former occurs on two specimens and the latter on one. The compiler of the collection also remains unknown. However it is probably that S. A. Brenan put the collection together from specimens in his own collection and, where necessary, cut in two

specimens which he had received from others. This would explain the occurrence of his

handwriting on specimens collected by so many others. If my identification of handwritings is correct Brenan's writings occur on specimens collected by: W. H. Harvey, W.

Thompson, W. Macalla and W. Hore as well as the other recognised but unidentified writers.

The new county records in Collection 13 have been compiled using Guiry (1978) and are listed below. The nomenclature, updated in accordance with Parke and Dixon (1976), is shown in square brackets and the location as shown on the label is given with the county name added in square brackets where necessary. Those specimens whose determination has been confirmed by the author are marked with an asterisk. The Ulster Museum Accession number is also given.

Callithamnion plumula [Antithamnion plumula] Holywood, Co Down, Oct. '35 W.T. [W. Thompson]. F1459,

Callithamnion turneri [Spermothamnion repens] Kilkee, [Co Clare] July 1833. F1446 This specimen, in fact, is not named, but was associated with another in the collection,

which was named, by means of the number *k29" on both specimens. ^Chylocladia ovalis [Gastroclonium ovatum

Blackrock Causeway [Co Londonderry]. F1399. There are other specimens of this species in the Ulster Museum from Co Londonderry which were collected by Sylvanus Wear.

*Delesseria alata [Membranoptera alata]

Bray [Co Wicklow] July 1857. F1483

Possibly collected by S. A. Brenan.

*Delesseria ruscifolia [Apoglossum ruscifolium] Malahide [Co Dublin], Macalla. F1484

^Desmarestia viridis

Kerry (Co Kerry] 45 [1845]. F1349.

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36 Ir. Nat. J. Vol. 20 No. 1 1980

Collection 14 ? Magdalene Turner

The twenty-eight specimens forming this collection were extracted from amongst the

unmounted specimens referred to previously as Collection 11. They were all collected in

Jersey by Miss M. Turner and all show similar handwriting, no doubt that of Miss Turner

herself. They have been accessioned: F1759?F1786.

Magdalene Turner (fl. 1840-1880's) sent algae from Jersey to W. H. Harvey for his

Phycologia Britannica (1846-51) and in recognition of her help he named the species Cladophora magdalenae Harv. (Desmond 1977). However it is now included with C.

albida (Huds.) Kutz. (Parke and Dixon 1967). The details on each specimen consist of genus and species names, the location and the

initials or name of Magdalene Turner. Ttere are cases where a few more words such as

"rare", "very rare" or "verw young" have been added in what appears to be another hand.

Four specimens which had been cut in two and the parts separated in Collection 11, have

now been reunited. Only one specimen was found with what may be a date "57" possibly short for 1857.

A study of the handwriting indicates two writers. Most of the writing is probably in Turner's hand with the remainder in Brenan's. The four specimens which have been cut in

two are of interest for seven of the eight parts show at least some handwriting of Brenan's. In

one case it is clear that the location had been written by him on the specimen before it was

cut in two, for the tip of the final letter appears also on the other part, this other part has also

been labelled by Brenan with the generic name, the collector's name and the location. All

this evidence points to Brenan being responsible for the cutting of this specimen in two and

the extra labelling made necessary. Further this supports the earlier suggestion that Brenan

was responsible for cutting other specimens in two. Probably Turner sent these twenty-eight

specimens to Brenan who cut some in two for exchange, relabelling parts as necessary. In

one case it seems his labelling is incorrect for although the specimen is labelled "Torquay" on the front he has labelled it "Jersey" on the back. The word "Torquay" is not clearly written however.

Harvey received much help from Turner and he acknowledges this in his Phycologia Britannica (1846-51). Harvey's original herbarium is in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) where these specimens are not duplicated (DA. Webb.?pers. comm.).

Collection 15 ? Isabella Gifford A group of fifteen plants now mounted on eight sheets and accessioned:

F1751?F1758 appear to have been collected by Isabella Gifford. All, save one from

Jersey, were collected ot Minehead, Somerset in England. They are dated 1848-1888 nd

excluding the Jersey specimen all are initialled "I.G."?the initials of Isabella Gifford.

The Jersey specimen was at first placed in the preceeding Collection 14; however the

handwriting is similar to that on the other specimens of Collection 15.

Isabella Gifford (c. 1823-1891) was born in Swansea and died in Minehead, Somerset

(Desmond 1977). Her main collection is in Somerset County Museum, she wrote two books

and some papers. The handwriting on our specimens appears to be Miss Gifford's (J.D. L.

Fleetwood?pers. comm.), save two specimens labelled in Brenan's hand and these are

initialled "I.G." in the same style as all the others.

In each of these three collections specimens showing the handwriting of S. A. Brenan were found and, although the remaining specimens in Collection 11 have not yet been

studied many of them also show Brenan's writing. The most probable explanation is that

Col lection 13,14 and 15 (as well as Collection 11) are all parts of Brenan' s algal herbarium,

many of the specimens having been received in donation or exchange rather than collected

by Brenan himself.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Robert Scott who did the work of mounting the specimens and writing the accession cards, to Professor DA. Webb for a most useful xerox of W. H. Harvey's

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Ir. Nat. J. Vol. 20 No. 1 1980 37

handwriting and his note that M. Turner's specimens are not duplicated in Trinity College,

Dublin. I am also grateful to Somerset County Museum and J. D. L. Fleetwood (Senior

Keeper) for information concerning Isabella Gifford and her handwriting.

REFERENCES

Britten, J. and Boulger, G. S. (1931) A Biographical Index of Deceased British and Irish Botanists. Ed. 2.

London: Taylor and Francis.

Desmond, R. (1977) Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists. London: Taylor and Francis.

Eager, A. R. and Scannell, M.J. P. (1978) William McCalla: his published papers overlooked in scientific

literature, Ir. Nat. J. 19; 281.

Grattann, W. H. (1874?) British Marine Algae: London: The Bazaar.

Guiry, M. D. (1978) A Consensus and Bibliography of Irish Seaweeds. Bibliotheca Phycologia. 44 :

J. Cramer.

Harvey, W. H. (1846-51) Phycologia Britannica: . . . London: Reeve and Benham.

MCalta, W. (1845) Algae Hibernicae, 1 . Dublin: S. B. Oldham.

?-(1848) Algae Hibernicae. 2 . Dublin: S. B. Oldham.

Morton, O. (1977) A note on W. H. Harvey's algae in the Ulster Museum. Ir. Nat. J. 19 : 26.

Parke. M. and Dixon, P. S. (1976) Check-list of British marine algae?third revision. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K. 56 :

527-594.

Praeger, R. L. (1949) Some Irish Naturalists. Dundalk. Dundalgan Press.

Sanders, G. (1860) March 10, 1854. On the fructification of the genus Desmarestia. Proc. nat. hist. Soc. Dublin

1 : 79-81.

TRIFOLIUM OCCIDENTALE D. E. COOMBE, NEW TO IRELAND

CD. Preston

Botany School, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EA

Introduction

On 23 June, 1979, when botanizing with M. J. Harrison and S. D. Webster, I noticed

Trifolium occidental at Bray Head, Co Wicklow. Subsequently Dr J. R. Akeroyd and I

found it at Howth Head, Co Dublin.

Trifolium occidentale was described from the coast of west Cornwall and the Channel

Islands relatively recently (Coombe 1961). It has not previously been recorded from

Ireland. This paper outlines the differences between T. occidentale and the related species T. repens L. (White or Dutch Clover) and gives details both of the Irish records of T.

occidentale and of its distribution in Europe.

Identification of Trifolium occidentale

Coombe (1961) gives a detailed description of Trifolium occidentale and the following notes summarise those features which can be used to distinguish it from T. repens. T.

repens is an extremely variable species and individuals can possess some of the characters

of 7. occidentale. This does not cause undue difficulties in identification, however, as T.

occidentale shows very little variability and can be recognised by the following combination of characters.

The stems of Trifolium occidentale are shorter than those of most plants of T. repens, and the stipules are deep vinous red. The petioles bear sparse but persistent flexuous,

erecto-patent to patent colourless hairs up to 1 mm in length. The leaflets, which rarely

exceed 10x10 mm, are particularly characteristic, being orbicular, glaucous and minutely

crystalline above, dark green and glossy below and (with very few exceptions) without light or dark markings. When held up to strong diffuse light and viewed with the naked eye the veins are not translucent. The leaflets of T. repens are variable in size, shape, colour and in

the presence and nature of light and dark markings but they rarely if ever possess the very

glossy dark green lower surface of T. occidentale and the veins are always translucent.

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