r I
They require for their growth highly nutritious substances,
such as dead organic m a tte r: this by their thalli, or thousand
rootlets, they quickly disorganize, appropriating a small portion
of it to their own nourishment, but allowing the return
to earth, to he again appropriated in some other form of tissue,
of by far the greater portion of those substances.
The Chara are frequently called Stoneworts, from the
quantity of calcareous matter with which they are often incrusted,
or perhaps Avhich they evolve, this property rendering
them agents still more important in the formation of soil.
5. N IT E L L A Ag.
Char. P lan t more or less pellucid. Cells tubular, not invested
xoith a secondary layer o f smaller cells. Globules
and nucules mostly on the terminal whorls, and axillary.
Of this and the following genus no figures are proposed
to he given, as their inclusion did not enter into the original
intention of the work. This is the less to he regretted, as very
good figures of the species are extant, especially those of
“ Eng. Bot.”
1. N itella translucens Ag.
Char, elongated, flaccid, pellucid, glossy ; branches o f
the whorls spreading, elongated. Nucules and globules
approximate, on the smaller ramuli scarcely bracteated.
Chara translucens, Eng. Bot. 1855, 2d ed. t. 1467, Hook.
Crypt. Fl. part 1. p. 2 45.; Macreight, 278.; Nitella
translucens Ag. Syst. Alg. 124.
This species grows in deep and stagnant ponds: it has been
found in several localities, but is by no means common. I t
is the largest of our native species, and well adapted, from its
transparency, for microscopic examination, of which it has
often been made the subject. The whole plant is exceedingly
smooth and glossy, whence its name. The distance of the
whorls, and thickness and size of the branches, vary in different
specimens. Fructification met with from Ju ly to September.
2. N itella fl ex il is Ag.
Char. Stems repeatedly dichotomous, one to two fe e t long,
smooth, flaccid, somewhat glossy, and pellucid: borders o f
the whorls compound, obtuse. Nucules and globules approximate,
few, scarcely bracteated.
Chara flexilis, Eng. Bot. t. 1070.; Eng. Bot. (2d ed.)
t. 1468., and fig. c to I, t. 1472.; Smith, 1. 7 .; Hook.
Crypt. Fl. part 1. p. 245.; Macreight, 278. Nitella
flexilis Ag. Syst. 124.
“ Not unfrequent in ditches, lakes, and still Avaters. A
much weaker and more slender plant than the last, with the
branches of the whorls generally, but not always forked, or
divided into three or four segments, rarely all simple. Nucules
often solitary. I t is never so glossy and bright in its hue
as N. translucens, and not uncommonly is found more or less
incrusted Avith calcareous matter, rendering the stems somewhat
opaque : in this latte r state it is N. opaca of Agardh.”
— Eng. Bot., 2d ed.
3. N ite lla nid ieica Ag.
Char. Stems simple, below smooth, flaccid, somewhat glossy,
and pellucid: primary whorled branches simple, elongated;
fertile ones numerous, crowded, proliferous. Nucules
and globules separate, bracteated.
Chara nidifica, Eng. Bot. t. 1703., 2d ed. t. 1469.; Smith,
1. 8.; Hook. Crypt. Fl. part 1. p. 245.; Macreight, 278.
Nitella nidifica Ag. Syst. 125.
“ A native of saltwater ditches in the South and East of
England. The simple much elongated branches of the primary
whorls, and the crowded and proliferous character of
the fertile ones, form the chief distinctions of the species, the
globules and nucules not being always separate. I have
found the globule stalked, but tha t occasionally occurs in N.
flexilis, and it is not uniformly so in the present plant.
“ I t would be desirable to ascertain the effect of cultivation
in perfectly fresh water upon this species, as specimens of a