[ 2585 2
C O N F E R V A nana.
Pointed I )warf Conferva.
CRYPTOGAM TA Alga.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced within the substance of
the capillary or jointed frond, or in closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. L ig h t reddish or greenish brown, tufted,
erect, much branched. Branches scattered, taper-
pointed. Jo in ts twice as long as broad.
Syn. Conferva nana. Dillw. Conf. t. 3 0. Syn. 71.
n . 1 16.
A t E - received this from Ireland by favour of Miss Hutchins,
through the hands of Mr. J. T. Mackay. It is a fresh-water
species growing on Fontinalis, and forming little dense upright
tufts, in our specimens of a light reddish brown. Mr. Dillwyn
represents them greener; but perhaps this has arisen from the
printing of his plate in greeny which we have but too often known
to produce error. The filaments are doubly, but irregularly,
branched; their ultimate divisions short, scattered or alternate,
always taper-pointed, which is an essential character. Their
surface is- even; the joints twice as long as broad. The colouring
matter seems unequally diffused, but this is probably
owing to the specimen having been dried. It adheres to paper.