L Y N G B Y A PROLIFICA.
Prolific Lynghya.
C la s s a n d O r d e r CRYPTOGAMIA ALG®, Unn N a t . O rd . ALGJE, Juss.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Fila muco matricali destitula, libere natantia, Jlexilia, liibo cmitinuo inlus annu-
lato.
Filaments destitute of a mucous layer, unattached, free, flexible, furnished
with a continuous, internally annulated tube.
SPECIFIC c h a r a c t e r .
L y n g b y a proliflca; ienuissimis, intricate, purptireis, hlissime effusis, na-
tantibus.
L. filaments exceedingly slender, entangled, purple, very broadly effused,
floating.
H ab. Surface of lakes. In the Loch of Haining, Selkirkshire, the prop
erty of John Pringle, Esq. October to April.
Plant extensively diffused, forming a floating stratum of a rich purple colour.
Filaments extremely slender, entangled, somewhat rigid, yet
flexible, entirely destitute of attachment, and free from any mucous
layer. Annuli, from the minuteness of the filament, almost inconspicuous.
I am indebted to the kindness of J o h n P r i n g l e , Esq. of
the Haining, and Captain G o r d o n of Eccles, for specimens
of this plant, accompanied with an account of its appearance in
the lake. The lake itself is a natural sheet of water, covering
an extent of about thirty-five acres, of from three to fifteen fathoms
in depth, and supplied partly by rivulets and partly by
a bottom spring. During summer, however, these are nearly
dry, and the lake is consequently in a state of more or less stagnation,
which is doubtless highly favourable to the development
of Algce as well as of animalculce.
The plant in question has been remarked for a period of
twelve to fifteen years, during which time it has gradually but