C O N F E R V A lucens.
Shining River Conferva.
CRYPTOGAMIA Algae.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced in round, solitary, closed
tubercles, projecting from the frond, but united
with it.
Spec. Char. Bright shining green. Filaments unbranched,
slender, slippery. Joints even, rather
broader than long.
Syn. Conferva lucens. Dillw. Conf. t. 47-
F o u n d by Mr. W . Borrer near Lewes, Sussex, in very
rapid streams, and sent to Mr. Sowerby in March last. Mr.
Dillwyn, its original describer, finds it “ not unfrequently in
the clear rapid rivulets of Glamorganshire. The filaments
are, according to Mr. J. D. Sowerby’s microscopical observations,
from the 900th to the 700th part of an inch in diameter.
They are 2 or 3 inches long, taper-pointed, forming dense
tufts which yield to the stream, of a full and shining green,
scarcely glaucous in our specimens. The joints are even,
about as broad as they are long, or rather broader, not more
conspicuous when dry than when fresh. Their extremities are
white and pellucid, the green colouring matter being condensed
in the middle, like a little band, which extends to the
surface.
The fructification of this tribe of fresh-water Confervas has
been much illustrated by M. Vaucher. If, as he seems to
prove, the colouring matter of their joints be the seed, they
differ from the tubercled kinds nearly as Ulva differs from
Fucus, and unquestionably ought to form a new genus.