C O N F E R V A Linum.
Marsh Thread Conferva.
CR YPTOGAMIA Algce.
Gen. Char. Seeds produced within the substance of
the capillary or jointed frond, or in closed tubercles
united with it.
Spec. Char. Green. Filaments simple, found, brittle,
somewhat elastic and rigid, uneven, curled
and entangled. Joints cylindrical, rather broader
than long.
Syn. Conferva Linum. FI. Dan. t. 771. f . 2. Roth,
in Ust. Annal. fasc. 1. 5. Catal. v. 1. 174. v. 3. 257.
C. capillaris. Dillw. Conf t. 9. Syn. n. 31. Huds. 598.*
With, v , 4. 135. Hull. 333.
C. filamentis longis, geniculatis, shnplicibus. Dill
Muse. 25. t. 5 .f . 25, A.
C. palustris, seu Filum marinum Anglicum R aii
Syn. 6 0 .
C o m m o n in stagnant ditches near the sea. Mr. W . Bor-
rer furnished us with specimens from Sussex in October. The
filaments are as thick as a hog’s bristle, or a coarse sewing
thread, dull green, coiled and entangled together, so that no
certain root or termination can be ascertained, yet so elastic
and slippery as not to cohere into a dense mass. The joints
are rather broader than long, with pale partitions, some of
which are often prominent, giving the filament an unequal
thickness here and there; but this is not regular nor constant.
In drying the joints contract in an equal and parallel manner,
and cannot be restored afterwards to their original appearance.
This species does not adhere to paper or glass as it dries.
Green globular bodies are sometimes found upon the threads
which soon fall off when the plant is taken out of the water,
as in C. dichotoma, t. 932, and which have been taken for
capsules, but, in our opinion, unjustly. What Mr. Dillwyn’s
minor variety, /3, may be, we have not yet ascertained.
tiff/