Sargassum Sargassum Sargassum is a genus of brown (class Phaeophyceae) macroalgae (seaweed) in the order Fucales. Numerous species are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world, where they generally inhabit shallow water and coral reefs, and the genus is widely known for its planktonic (free-floating) species. Most species within the class Phaeophyceae are predominantly cold-water organisms that benefit from nutrients upwelling, but the genus "Sargassum" appears to be an exception. Any number of the normally benthic species may take on a planktonic, often pelagic existence after being removed from reefs during rough weather; however, two species ("S. natans"
Mary Harriet Bate retains 361 of her plant specimens and the collection includes the rare shrub "Myoporum bateae" and the moss "Bryum bateae" named for her. Also there are the moss "Bryum viridulum" as well as the basidiomycete "Trametes heteromalla" , the alga "Sargassum laevigatum" and the tree "Eucalyptus bosistoana". All these were type specimens for the respective species which she collected. Her algal specimens were identified by Jacob Agardh, the fungal specimens by Mordecai Cooke and the bryophytes by Carl Müller. Bate was only one of Mueller's at least 220 female collectors, although she was one of the more prolific of them.