C O N F E R V A cyanea.
Sky-blue Wall Conferva.
CRYPTOGAMIA Algos.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced within the substance of
the capillary or jointed frond, or in closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. Glaucous blue. Filaments simple, entangled,
cylindrical, even, with a deciduous coat.
Joints obsolete, about as broad as long.
F O R the discovery of this new Conferva, we are indebted to
Sir Thomas Gage, Bart., who finds it not uncommon on the
damp inside walls of several Suffolk churches, as at Icklingham,
and his own church of Hengrave, He has observed the same in
Lancashire.
On the wall it is conspicuous for its light sky-blue colour, like
some sort of Mucor. Under a high magnifier, and moistened,
it is found to consist of minute, even, simple, entangled threads,
one-500dth part of an inch in diameter, coated with a frequently
interrupted covering, of a dull glaucous green hue, under which
the thread itself appears of a lighter glaucous blueish colour, very
even in thickness and surface, consisting of scarcely distinguishable
joints, about as broad as they are long.