/ J s [ 1690 ]
CONFERVA tetragona.
Pink Square-branched Conferva*
CRYPTOGAMIA Algae.
G en. Ch a r . Seeds produced within th e substance o f
th e capillary o r jointed frond, or in closed tubercles
united with it.
S pec. Ch a r . R e d , repeatedly branched. Branches
square. Joints twice as long as broad. Capsules
lateral, sessile, globose.
Sy n . Conferva tetragona. W ith. v. 4 . 4 0 5 . Hull. 334.
D illw . Conf. t. 65.
X h E late excellent Colonel Velley, whose valuable life was
sacrificed at Reading last summer by the carelessness of a
stage-coach driver, as many others have been, found this
plant at the Bill of Portland, in company with Mr. Stackhouse.
Mr. Dillwyn has gathered it near Swansea, and Mr. Turner at
Weymouth and in Fresh-water bay. It grows parasitically on
the larger Fuci, and is probably annual.
From one callous root arise many stems, 2 or 3 inches high,
repeatedly and alternately branched, spreading in every direction.
The branches are in 3 rows, the ultimate ones finely
awlshaped. Joints of the stem twice as long as broad; those
of the branches of much shorter proportion. According to
Mr. Stackhouse’s remark, both stem and branches are square
with hollow sides. The capsules are globose, and sessile
about the upper branches. The colour of the whole when
fresh is an uniform light red or pink, but the colouring matter
soon shrinks into the middle of each joint, and leaves the external
part pellucid.