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CONFERVA flaccida.
Hasty Flaccid Conferva.
CRYPTOGAMIA Algce.
G en. Char. Seeds p ro d u c e d w ith in th e su b s tan c e o f
th e c a p illa ry o r jo in te d f ro n d , o r in c losed tu b e rc le s
u n ite d w ith it.
Spec. Char. R u s ty olive, F ilam e n ts u n b ra n c h e d ,
ta p e r in g , c lu s te re d , sh o rt, fla c c id . U p p e r jo in t s
as lo n g as b r o a d ; low e r h a l f as lo n g .
Syn. C o n fe rv a flac cid a . Dillw. Syn, 53. t. C,
F o u n d by Miss Hill on the Devonshire coast, growing
parasitically on Fucus flro su s. Our specimens, gathered by
Mr. W. Borrer, last May, in Shoreham harbour, Sussex,
grew, in like manner, on F. vesiculosus.
The plant to which this Conferva is attached, seems clothed
with a soft tufted shaggy coat, each tuft, scarcely an inch
long, consisting of numerous, olive-brown, flexible, very
slender filaments, gently tapering from their base to a fine
point. Mr. Dillwyn observed the substance to be in some
degree gelatinous, adhering, though not very firmly, to either
glass or paper as it dries. The joints in the lower part of
each filament are about half as long as broad, the upper ones,
indeed three fourths of the whole number, about twice as long.