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C O N F E R V A distorta.
Twisted-branched Conferva.
CRYPT0GAM1A Mgce.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced within the substance of
the capillary or jointed frond, or in closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. Glaucous green. Filaments cylindrical,
even, cohering as if branched, twisted, slightly
spreading. Joints twice as broad as long.
Syn. Conferva distorta. FI. Dan. t. 820. Dillw.
Syn. 41. Conf. t. 22, and t. A.
T h is fresh-water Conferva grows in short thick tufts on decaying
grass, upon small pieces of which it often floats in autumn
over the surface of boggy pools. Mr. Dillwyn, who reckons it
very rare, found it on Sketty Burroughs, near Swansea. Our
specimens were sent from Anglesea, in 1808, by the Rev. Hugh
Davies.
The colour when fresh is a deep but glaucous green, turning
paler as the plant advances towards decay. When long exposed
to the air, the whole becomes quite tawny. The filaments are
from half an inch to an inch long, very slender and even, apparently
branched; but Mr. Dillwyn esteems this appearance
to be caused by the adhesion of the filaments only. Each is attached
merely by its coat, and twisted just above the point of
attachment. The joints are full twice as broad as long ; at first
regular and uniform, but the colouring matter of some seems to
swell, or to coalesce, into round balls, leaving the tube empty
and pellucid for a considerable space.