CONFERVA fucoides.
Brown Fucus-like Conferva.
CRYPTQGAMIA Algae.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced within the substance of
the capillary or jointed frond, or in closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. Brown, capillary, rigid, bushy and much-
branched ; the ultimate divisions awlshaped, alternate.
Joints as broad as long, compound. Capsules
lateral, sessile, solitary, globose.
Syn. Conferva fucoides. Huds. 603. With. v. 4 . 141.
Hull. 334. Iiilliv . Corif. t. 7 5 .
Ceramium violaceum. Roth. Catal. v. 1. 150. t. 8.
/ • 2 . /
SENT by Mr. Turner from Yarmouth, and by Miss Biddulph
from Southampton, late last autumn. The authority of the
name, which could scarcely have been put out of doubt by
Hudson’s work alone, rests on original specimens in the
hands of the Rev. H. Davies and A. Menzies, Esq., as we
learn from Mr. Dillwyn, on whom also we rely for the certainty
of Dr. Roth’s synonym, though the excellent description
of the latter leaves less room for hesitation. We do not
however find the pellucid dots which he describes on the joints
of the main stem and branches.
The whole plant is very bushy, from 3 to 12 inches long,
reddish or purplish brown when young, almost black when
old or dry, its texture elastic but firm. Frond very much and
alternately branched, capillary, jointed throughout, the joints
cylindrical, about as broad as lohg, each consisting of a simple
circular series of numerous parallel tubes. See it. 1717 and
547. The ultimate branches are awlshaped, all alternate.
Capsules lateral, sessile, small, globular, obtuse, discharging
tfieir seeds at the summit.