CONFERVA paradoxa.
Chequered Conferva.
CRYPTOGAMIA Algce.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced within the substance of
thecapillary or jointed frond, or in closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. Pale green, repeatedly branched, very
slender, tubular, composed of laterally-combined
filaments; ultimate branches simple. Joints as
broad as long.
Syn. Conferva paradoxa. D illw . S yn. 70. n . 1 1 5 . t. F.
T h i s plant was, according to Mr. Dillwyn, first discovered
by Mr. Templeton in the sea near Bangor. Our specimens
were communicated in July 1811, by Mr. W . Borrer, from
the beach at Brighthelmston, and, being in a perfectly fresh
state, they enable us to give a more complete representation of
the structure of so remarkable a production, than could be
made from a dry specimen; which consideration will account
for, and excuse, any differences between Mr. Dillwyn’s plate
and ours.
The whole plant composes dense tufts, four or five inches
long, of a light yellowish green hue, and slippery tender substance.
Each frond is very'much and alternately branched,
but little spreading, extremely slender, closely adhering to paper
in drying, and in that state very slightly glossy. Under a
high magnifier these fine capillary fronds prove to be tubular,
composed of an indefinite number of jointed filaments, closely
united laterally, their joints square, whitish, each with a green
central globule of seeds. These filaments are most numerous
in the principal stem, fewer in proportion as we examine higher
up, and finally simple or solitary in the ultimate branches;
which justifies Mr. Borrer’s and Mr. Dillwyn’s idea of the conformation
of this vegetable, and of its analogy witli C.fcetida,
t. 2101. There is however much to favour the opinion of a
very intelligent lady, Miss Hutchins, that it is an Ulva, near
ramulosa, t. 2137; but the latter* spreading gradually upwards,
from a narrow base, seems formed on a different principle.