The English flora - SeaweedAfrica

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350 ALG^ CONFERVOIDEJE. [Conferva.
1 . B. setigera, Ag. (setigerous Bulbochcete). Ag. Syst.Alg.p. 123.
— Conferva setigera, Both, Cat. Bot. v. 3. t. S.f. 1—Conferva
vivipara, Dillw. Conf. t. 59 a. branches erect.—/3. branches re-
flexed secund.
On fresh-water plants, in lakes, bogs, &c.— 0. on Chara aspera, at
Holyhead, W. Wilson, Esq.— Filaments ^-^inch long, forming a densely
woolly covering on the affected plant. Colour a pale dull-green.
66. Conferva.* Ag. Conferva.
Filaments articulated, free, distinct, uniform, simple or
branched. Fruit (?) an internal coloured granular mass, (endochrome).
Colour green, rarely purple or orange.—Name
derived from conferruminare, to consolidate ; some of the species
being considered by the ancients useful in the healing of fractured
limbs.
A. filaments simple.
a. filaments decumbe?it, arachnoid, forming strata, of a purple
colour.—Alpine bogs.
—
1. C. ericetorum, Roth, {Moor Conferva); filaments very
slender simple forming a thin dull-purple stratum, articulations
a little longer than broad, endochrome dark-coloured filling the
tube finally bipartite unaltered in drying. Dillw. Conf. t. 1.
E. Bot. t. 1553. Grev. Crypt. Fl. t. 261 ?
On dry heaths, abundant : occasionally in water.
2. C. purpurdscens, Carm. (purple Conferva); filaments
very slender simple forming a cloudy floating purple stratum,
articulations once or twice as long as broad, endochrome collapsed
pale rarely filling the tube.— C. ericetorum, (3. aquatica,
Ag. Syst. Alg.p. 87, (in part?)
In old turf-pits, and boggy pools, common.-—" At first occurring as a
dusky green cloud, diffused throughout the water, gradually changing
to a pretty bright purple and rising in a bullated stratum to the surface.
Granular mass collapsed into a great variety of forms, generally attached
to one side of the tube. It adheres firmly to paper. With C. ericetorum
it has no affinity, except in colour." Carm. MSS.
3. C. alpina, Bory, (alpine Conferva) ; filaments simple very
slender purple, articulations 4 times as long as broad, endochrome
collapsed rarely filling the tube Lyngb. Hydroph.
Dan. t. 47. Grev. Crypt. Fl t. 261./. 2.
Subalpine rivulets: abundant in the Highlands of Scotland, Dr.
Greville.
b. filaments elongated, floating, rarely attached, flaccid, forming
green strata.—Fresh-icater.
4. C. bombycina, Ag. (silky Conferva); filaments excessively
* Though fully sensible of the heterogeneous character of this genus, I prefer
retaining it as established by Agardh, until the structure of the species be
better understood.