m
208 ctstosbermeæ.
31. V esiculifera al ata Ilass.
Plate L I I I . Fig. 8.
Char. Filaments scarcely exceeding those o f V. Rothii in size.
Uninflated cells about six times as long as hroad. Sporangia
oval, having their long diameter placed in the axis
o f the diameter o f the inflated cells, such hearing cells very
protuberant laterally.
Hab. Penzance: Air. Ralfs.
This is one of the most remarkable species of the genus,
and the only specimens -vvliich I have seen of it are those
transmitted to me by Mr. Ralfs.
32. V esiculifera R othii Hass.
Plate L I I I . Fig. 7.
Char. Filaments rather more slender than those o f the preceding
species. Cells fu lly fo u r times as long as hroad.
Sporangia rather broader than long/, contained in inflated
cells o f the same form.
V. bombycina Hassall, In Annals of Nat. Hist., vol. x.
p. 394. Conf. homhycina Ag. Harv. Manual, p. 126.
Prolifera Rothii M. Léon le Clerc, Mém. du Mus.
Hab. Fveryivherc common.
Three or four cells sometimes occur in juxtaposition.
33. V es iculifera Candollii Hass.
Plate L I I . F ig 9.
Char. Filaments o f about the same diameter as those o f V.
crispa. Cells usually six times as long as hroad. Sporangia
circular, contained in inflated cells ivhich are somewhat
narrower at one extremity than the other.
V. vernalis Hassall, in Annals of Nat. Hist., vol. xi. p. 434.
Prolifera Candolli M. Léon le Clerc, Mém. du Muséum,
t. 25. % . 7.
BULBOCHÆTE. 209
Hab. Waltham Abbey and High Beech, F p p in g : A. H. H.
Rusthall Common : Air. Jenner.
This is a distinct as well as common species. I have but
little doubt of the correctness of the synonym.
17. B U L B O C HÆ T E Ag.
Char. P'ûzmQuts attached, o f equal diameter, branched. Cells
truncate, setigerous, the seta being rigid, elongated, and
bulbous at their bases. Reproductive bodies situated
either in inflated cells, when they are formed by the union
o f the contents o f two contiguous cells, or in the bulbous
portions o f the seta, which become much enlarged fo r their
accommodation.
Derivation. From floXflos, a bulb, and a bristle.
The reproduction of this remarkable genus has, until very
recently, been wholly unknown. M. Deeaisne, in his Memoir
on the Classification of the Algæ, contained in the numbers
of the “ Ann. des Sciences Nat.” for May and Ju n e 1842,
alludes to the mode of formation of the reproductive bodies
by the union of the matter of two cells in the same filament,
but does not appear to have noticed the second way in which
they are formed, viz. within the bulbous portion of the seta.
The observations of M. Deeaisne and my oivn remarks appear
to have been made nearly at the same period.
“ In the above account of the reproduction of the genus
Bulbochoete I have avoided using the term spore to designate
the condensed endochrome in the inflated cells, which presents
so much the appearance of a true spore ; for I conceive tha t it
is most probable tha t this separates, as in the other branched
species of Confervoe, into numerous small reproductive granules.
“ The genus Bulbochoete may be regarded as forming the
connecting link between the simple and branched freshwater
Confervoe ; it agreeing Avith the Conjugatæ in the equality of
its filaments, with the Cystospermeoe in the union of the contents
of two distinct cells, and probably with the branched