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C O N F E R V A stipitata.
Stalked Striated C onferva,
CRYPTOGAMIJ Algce,
Gen. Char, Seeds produced within the substance of
the capillary or jointed frond, or in closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. Whitish, Frond of a very few close
striated joints, twice as broad as long. Common
stalk capillary, lateral, longer than the frond.
H a v in g in vol, 26. t. 1869, figured amarine production, of
whose vegetable nature we had then no doubt, we are induced to
present our readers with another, whose great resemblance thereto
will, we trust, prove our justification, though it excites a suspicion
that both may belong to the animal kingdom. This suspicion
arises frqn) the scent of the present plant when burnt, which
is like that of a coralline; the earthy residuum being also, as in
that tribe, very abundant. With this caution, for the consideration
of those who may follow us, we for the present refer this
curious production to the vegetable kingdom,
Jt was found in July 1812, in clear rills which intersect the
mud, on the coast near Southampton, by Miss S. Biddulph and
Miss Hill, covering Conferva cerea, rubra, and others, as well
as Ulva compressa, giving them an almost golden hue. When
dried, the production in question assumes a pale, greyish, mucor-
like aspect, and feels soft like cotton. When highly magnified
the whole mass is found composed of innumerable distinct individuals,
each supported on a very fine capillary stalk, and consisting
of one, two, three or four close joints, twice or thrice as
broad as long, rather pointed or angular upwards, longitudinally
striated, with the interruption of a plain transverse band. In the
centre is a round red mass of apparent seeds. If this, and our
C. obliquata, l. 1869, be not Corfervce, they are probably the
eggs of some marine insect, rather than a coralline. That they
are both of the same nature nobody can doubt.