PALMELLA b o t r y o i d e s .
Small clustered Palmella.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
P almella b o try o id e s ; minuta; frotidibus dense aggregatis, globosis, subloba-
tis, viridis, granulis ellipticis.
P. minute, fronds densely crowded, globose, somewhat lobed, green, the
granules elliptical.
P almella botryoides, Lyngb. Hydroph. p. 205.—Grev. Fl. Fdin. p. 323.—
Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 14.
N ostoc b o try o id es, Ag. Syn. p . 135.
T remella b o try o id es, Schreb. Spicil. p . 141.
Byssus botryoides, Lightf. Fl. Scot. 2. p. 3006.—Dill. Hist. Muse. p. 3. t. 1 .
f 5.
H ab. On the ground, in moist heathy places, in peat-mosses, and on banks.
Spring and autumn. Frequent.
Fronds minute, globose, entire or obscurely lobed, unequal in size, very
numerous and crowded, o f a full green colour, and a gelatinous, somewhat
fh-m substance. Granules elliptical.
It appears to me that there are two plants confounded by
the older botanists under the name of Byssus botryoides, and
that this confusion has been in nowise removed by modem
writers. On the one hand, this Byssus has been admitted as
a Lichen, on the other as an Alga, while both parties claim
the same synonymes, but frequently express their doubts as to
the real nature of the plant. I t is quite clear that the plant I
have figured is not the Lepraria botryoides of English Botany,
which is usually found on trees. But I think it is B y s sus
botryoides of D ille n iu s , as he mentions having once observed
it near Hampstead, on the ground, which would surely
be too particular a station for the Lepraria, which grows on
almost every old tree. This subject will be cleared up, if possible,
when I come to figure the Lepraria botryoides of some
authors, which is also an Alga.
Fig. 2. a, Palmella feo/ryoidcA, natural size, b, A group of Fronds, c, Fronds.
d, A vertical slice of a frond, e. Granules ; magnified.
I I