•Sc [ 1943 ]
CONFERVA flacca.
Green F la c c id Conferva.
CR YPTOGAMIA Alga.
G e n . Char. Seeds produced within the substance of
the capillary or jointed frond, or in closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. Green. Filaments unbranched, flaccid,
curved, even. Joints all equal, nearly twice as
broad as long; their partitions pellucid.
S y n . Conferva flacca. Dillw. Conf. t. 4 9 .
M r . DILLWYN has observed this Conferva only near
Swansea. Our specimens were gathered at Yarmouth by Mr.
Turner and Mr. W . J . Hooker. It grows parasitically on
Fuel in the sea; sometimes on wood exposed to the sea water,
and is in perfection in the spring.
The fronds form dense bright-green tufts, and are simple,
half an inch to an inch long, soft flaccid and slimy to the touch,
by no means rigid, or erect when out of the water. They are
very slender. When seen under a high magnifier they appear
thread-shaped and even, their joints nearly, if not quite,
twice as broad as long, with constantly white pellucid edges
and partitions, but the latter are not at all contracted so as
to give a beaded aspect to the filament. Some few joints are
now and then found enlarged and as if discharging their green
contents, which are very probably the seeds.