CONFERVA ALPINA.
Long-jointed Purple Conferva.
S P E C IF IC CHARAC TER .
Conferva a lp in a simplicibus, tenuissimis purpuréis, articulis diametro
quadrupla hngioribus.
Conf. filaments simple, very slender, purple, the articulations four times
longer than they are broad.
Conferva alpina, Bory.—Lyngb. Hydroph. p. ISg. t- 47.—Ag. Syst. Alg.
p. 87.—Savi, in Ust. Ann. 21. p. S.Jid. Ag.
C o n f e r v a violácea, Huds. Fl. Angl. p. 592.
C o n f e r v a confragosa, Lightf. Fl. Scot. p. 916.— With. Bot. Arr. v. 4. p. 156.
C o n f e r v a mucosa confragosa, riv u lis innascens. Dill. Hist. Muse. p. 15. t. 2.
f. 4.
H ab. In subalpine rivulets. Abundant in the Highlands and Western
Islands o f Scotland.—The station given by D i l l e n i u s is Llanberris in
Wales.
Filaments attached to any substance in the water, exceedingly fine, elongated,
either free or entangled, simple, rich dark purple, slippery to the
touch. Articulations at least four times, often six times longer, than they
are broad. Sometimes the whole filament is coloured, b u t generally the
margin is pellucid, as well as the joints, and the coloured matter is either
uniform, or collected in the centre, or at the extremities of the articulations.
The preceding well-known Alga, I have only introduced
to contrast with this, one of the finest native species of Conferva,
and strikingly distinguished for the great length of the
articulations. I t occurs in great abundance. Captain C a r m
i c h a e l finds it at Appin, and in the Isle of Skye; the
streams of even the low lands are in some places filled with it.
L i g h t f o o t first discovered it in Scotland on Goatfell, in the
Isle of Arran, and named it C. confragosa: it is omitted, however,
by Dr H o o k e r in his Flora Scotica.
Fig. 2, a, C. alpina, natural size, b. Filaments, magnified.