b ft [ 1869 ]
CONFERVA obliquata.
Oblique D is jo in ted Conferva.
CRYPTOGAMIA Algae.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced within the substance of
the capillary or jointed frond, or in closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. Whitish. Filaments branched, zigzag,
compressed. Joints aggregate; each group quadrangular,
oblique, connected with the next by one corner.
Seeds in brown central solitary dots.
W e are obliged to Miss S. Biddulph for the discovery o f
this extraordinary Conferva, which is somewhat akin to what
we have named C. Biddulphiana, 1 .1762, but, though variable
in bulk, always considerably larger than that species. It grows
in small whitish-brown tufts on Fucus subfuscus, fig . l , or
Conferva verticillata, f g . 2, both represented under an equal
magnifying power in our plate, so that the latter seems most
luxuriant. I t is scarcely passible by description to give an idea
of the structure of this vegetable. The joints are broad and
short, when highly magnified, as at f g . 3, found to be curiously
dotted. They are united vertically, three together, into
obliquely quadrangular groups, which latter are in like manner
sometimes combined vertically, but most frequently by their
opposite corners, so as to form a kind of zigzag chain, and
this moreover sends off frequent ramifications. About the
centre of each group is a round mass of brown seeds, visible
to the naked eye.