4ii.s
:ti*
T r
Y -
S C H IZ O N EM A S m i t h i i .
Common Schizonema.
C l a s s a n d O h d e h CRYPTOGAMIA ALGÆ, Linn—N a t . O r d . ALGJE, Juss.
G E N E R IC C H A R A C T E R .
Fila libera, continua, e Jilis angustioribus coadunatis composita, granula ellipiica
includenlibus.
Filaments free, continuous, composed of other smaller filaments longitudinally
united, and containing elliptical granules.
S P E C I F IC c h a r a c t e r .
S c h iz o n em a Smithii ; Jilis coespitosis, irregulariter ramosis, acutis, gramdis
geminatis lineis parallelis cotifertis.
S. filaments tufted, irregularly branched, acute ; granules geminate, in
crowded parallel lines.
S c h iz o n em a Sm ith ii, Ag. Syst. Alg. p . 10.
U lva foe tid a . Smith, Fngl. Bot. t. 2 1 0 1 .
H ab. On stones and various small Algæ in the sea. Appin, Captain Ca rm
ic h a e l .
Plant tufted, one to two inches in length or more, of a pale reddish, yellowish,
or greenish hue. Filaments destitute of an external membrane,
and apparently composed of a pellucid gelatinous mass, formed by the
union of several smaller filaments, each containing a regular single series
of granules. The filaments are branched in a most irregular manner,
and vary in thickness, according to the number of lesser filaments
o f which they are formed. The branches are produced by a certain
number o f the lesser filaments deviating from the main stem ; towards
the extremity they become m ore frequent, and the m ain stem is often split
into three divisions at the same point. The ultimate divisions are acute,
and it not unfrequently happens th a t a solitary lesser filament is detached
from the remainder. Granules greenish-yellow, geminate, elliptical,
the two individuals ultimately separating ; arranged like a necklace
in continuous parallel lines, each line denoting the presence of a lesser
filament.
To this plant the generic name of Schizonema may be most
properly applied; for it is really compounded of several minor
filaments, which divide of themselves, and in such a manner as
VOL. V.