C O N F E R V A b ip a rtita .
jpivided-jointed Conferva.
CRYPTOGAMIA Algce.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced within the substance o f
the cap illary or j ointed fronds or in closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. Yellow ish green. Filaments unbranched,
slender, very long, in dense masses. Jo in ts as
lo n g as broad, or longer, at length transversely
separated inte rnally.
Syn. Conferva b ip a rtita . Dilhv. C o n f.t. 1Q5. Syn.
n. 19.
G a t h e r e d in a salt-water ditch at Mewhaven, Sussex, in
March 1811, by Mr. W . Borrer, who suspects it may be
Roth’s C. semistrangulata, a question we have no means of
determining.
The plant was drawn out by the stream into long twisted
masses. Mr. Dillwyn observed his to' float on the surface, retaining
air-bubbles, like those various species formerly confounded
together under the name of C. bullosa. The colour is
a fine green, growing more yellow, as it appears, by age. Filaments
simple, very long, slender and even. Joints in ours
about as long as broad ; Mr. Dillwyn found them likewise so,
though in some specimens, nearly thrice as long. This difference
could not arise from any action of the stream on the
growing plant, as the different kinds grew mixed together, and
some joints were of an intermediate proportion. The great
peculiarity of the species consists in the separation of the
opaque green matter, contained in each joint, into two distinct
portions, after the plant has arrived at a certain stage of growth.