C O N F E R V A comoides.
Hair-brown T u fted Conferva.
CRYPTOGAMTA Alga;.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced within the substance of
the capillary or jointed frond, or in closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. Purplish brown. Filaments capillary,
branched, zigzag, very obscurely jointed. Branches
scattered, sharp-pointed, but little spreading.
Syn. Conferva comoides. Dillw. Conf. t. 27.
S e n t from Yarmouth by Mr. W . Borrer in October last.
It is said by Mr. Dillwyn, the only writer who has given any
account of it, to be common on our sea shores;, growing on
other sea-weeds, or on stones, “ frequently so covering the
“ round pebbles which abound among the rocks with its
“ slender hair-like tufts, lying one over the other, as to give
“ them a striking resemblance to the head of an infant.” The
filaments are very uniform in thickness, always zigzag or undulated,
not straight, their joints scarcely discernible. The
branches are rather distant, scattered, coming off at very
acute angles, and each terminating in a sharp point. No.
fructification has been detected. The colour of the whole
plant is a fine hair-brown, inclining to purple, changing to
a greenish grey in drying.