“ Batrachosperma {bombusind) filamentis ramosis; articulis
elongatis; verticillis minutissimis, distantihus conoideis."
— Bory de St. Vincent, Annales du Museum, vol. xii.
Hab. Malaliide near Dublin : Dr. Coulter.
“ This beautifid plant grows in the Isles of France and of
Be-union. I t covers pebbles in places exposed to the currents
of great rivulets, particularly at the Great River and
the river of Saint Denis.
“ I ts colour is of the most elegant green; but if the specimens
of this plant be not quickly prepared, they very soon
turn black upon the paper.
“ From a principal filament from two to four inches long,
proceed many long slender loose branches, simple, or having
sometimes here and there scattered very small branches,
Avhich are never divided. The articulations of the principal
stem, and of the larger branches are for the most part naked;
their point of contact is dilated in such a manner as to
resemble the rods of bamboos.
“ A s to the verticilli, they are rounded, smaller than those
of the following species, composed of very compact branch-
lets. Their simple ramuli are likewise shorter than in the
other Batrachosperms ; three or four rounded joints compose
th em : the ciliform appendage which terminates them is remarkable.
Some ramuli, shorter than those of the verticillum,
cover also the inferior part of the articulations, which
have the appearance of reversed cones.” — Bory.
Bory’s descriptions and figures of this species are so accurate,
as to leave no doubt either as to its specific distinctness,
or its identity with the plant collected by Dr. Coulter.
The exact correspondence of the specimens collected in the
Isles of France and of Re-union is remarkable with those found
in Ireland, and helps to confirm the opinion which I have
long entertained tha t the different species of the freshwater
division of the Algm are almost universally diffused.
2. B atrachospermum helmintosum Bory.
Char. Filaments branched, pyramidal, naked below ; branches
■ simple, subpinnate, acute. Verticilli contiguous, compressed.
Bory, in Annales du Museum, vol. xii. p. 316. pi. 29. fig. 2. ;
Corallinapinguis, ramosa viridis, Vaill. Paris, 4to. tab. vi.
fig. 6.
Hab. New River, Cheshunt : A . H. H.
“ There is no doubt but th a t Vaillant’s plant is also
our plant : the figure which he has given of it is inferior ;
the disposition of the branches is badly given ; hut the
tubercles in it are confounded. The extremities are subulate,
and the author compares his corallina to a muscus fili-
cinus. I have moreover gathered the species in question in
the place in which the Parisian botanist has pointed out for
his habitat. I then discovered it for the first time upon the
rocks in the gloomy bosoms of very many freshwater fountains
situated in Brittany, beside the river Goesne, near the
city of Fougère.
“ The stems of this beautiful species scarcely exceed two
inches In length. They are fine, and denuded at their base,
which appears yellow. Numerous branches proceed from it :
they are somewhat subulate, and diminish in length, in such
a way, that they incline from the extremities of the plant,
which gives to it a pyramidal appearance.
“ The verticilli are compressed, voluminous, horizontal, and
so approximated, tha t they cannot acquire the globular form :
they become confused, and form around the stems a continuous
cylinder of mucosity. The diameter of this cylinder equals
often th a t of the plume of a little bird. The branches are
not less thick at their insertion. The colour of the plant is
obscure, of a bluish and uncertain green.”
3. B atrachospermum coneusum Hass.
Plate X V . Fig. 1.
Char. Frond large. Filaments much branched. Verticilli
contiguous, subconfused, compressed above and below.