W 0 [ 1718 ]
.CRYPTOGAMIA Alga.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced within the substance of
the capillary or jointed frond, or m closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. Brown. Frond cartilaginous, variously
branched, beset with close whorls of slender, incurved,
simple or forked filaments. Joints about
as broad as long.
Syn. Conferva verticillata. L ig h t/. 984. Ilu d s. 6 5 3 .
With. v. 4. 133. Hull. 332. Dillw. Can/ t. 5 5 .
N o t at all unfrequent on the Scottish or English coasts,
though overlooked by Hudson, or rather confounded by him
with his C. spongiosa, the Fucus hirsutus of Linnaeus, which
agrees with our plant at first sight, but differs essentially in
the irregular disposition and simple form of the little branches
which clothe the main stem of both these Conferees in so peculiar
a manner.
The main stem of C. verticillata is round, wiry, black,
irregularly branched, somewhat zigzag and spreading, obscurely
jointed. The joints are a little contracted, scarcely
longer than broad. Each part where they unite is beset with
a dense whorl of fine, rigid, incurved, simple or forked,
jointed, flatfish filaments, which being much longer than
their corresponding joints, lie imbricated over the whorl above
them, and give the whole plant a spongy appearance, and a
harshness to the touch. We are ignorant of the fructification.