/2& [ 546 ]
C O N F E R V A villofa.
Hairy Conferva.
CRY P T 0 GA M IA 4lga.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced in round, folitary, clofed
tubercles, projecting from the frond, but united
with it.
Spec. Char. Oppofitely branched, and obfcurely jointed,
ftudded with hairy warts. Branches nearly
fimple, diftant.
Syn. Conferva villofa. H udf. 6 0 3 . With. v. 4 . 141.
S e N T from Yarmouth beach with the preceding Fucus, and
accompanied by an equally excellent drawing by the fame lady.
I t is given as the C. villofa, on the authority of an original
fpecimen in Sir J. Banks’s herbarium. We cannot defcribe
its chara&eriftic marks better than in Mr. Turner’s own words.
“ C. villofa is one of our fcarceft plants, and was hardly ever
<c found at Yarmouth before this fummer, 17 9 8 . It is a very
“ remarkable link in the chain of marine vegetables, not being
“ jointed in the ftem, but ftudded with knobs like C. Jluviatilis,
“ while in the youngeft fhoots there are faint appearances of
“ diffepimenta, vifible only with a microfcope. In texture it is
et fimilar to Fucus pedunculatus (fee t. 5 4 5 ), for which it may
“ eafily be miftaken as it lies on the beach, and which it very
“ clofely refembles in the down that fprings from the knobs in
“ the ftem, and which completely covers the leffer fhoots. Its
“ branches are few, remarkably oppofite, and generally ftarting
“ from the ftem at right angles.”
It is not improbable that the fructification may be fitu-
ated in the knobs of the ftem, and that it may be viviparous,
the hairs of thofe knobs being no other than young plants.
This muft be confirmed or refuted by repeated examinations
made at different feafons of the year.