106 BRITISH CHAROPHYTA. 



The specific name flexilis has been retained for the present 

 species, although, as pointed out by Dr. Nordstedt, there is 

 little doubt the actual plant Linnaeus had before him, when 

 he published the name, was Tolypella nidified, and the habitat 

 given "in Europae maritimis" would not apply to N. flexilis. 

 The description in ' Sp. Plant.' p. 1157 reads: " Chara 

 caulium articulis inermibus diaphanis superne latioribus." 

 It. gotl. 215. Fl. suec. 995." The only synonym quoted is 

 " Chara transfluens \_sic] minor flexilis. Raj. angl. 3, p. 133/' 

 and this would not refer to T. nidifica. It is curious that 

 Linnaeus made no reference to Yaillant's two figures of 

 Nitellas. We can only conclude, there being no other of his 

 species under which they could be placed, that Linnaeus did 

 not discriminate between the Nitelleae which had come before- 

 him, of which no doubt there would have been several, and 

 that he included them all under the one species. Dr. Nord- 

 stedt in his "Scandinaviens Characeer" ('Bot. Notiser/ 1863 r 

 p. 35) adopted Reichenbach's name furculata for the present 

 species, applying that of N. flexilis to Tolypella nidifica, the 

 genus Tolypella being then generally regarded as a subgenus 

 of Nitella. This course has not however been followed by 

 other authors. Agardh, in discriminating N. opaca, limited 

 the name of flexilis to its present application, and this view 

 lias been generally adopted. 



Var. b. crassa. 



BRAUN in Braun, Kabenh. & Stiz. Charac. Exs. 101 (1877) ; ARES- 

 CHOUG Exs. 391; NORDSTEDT & WAHLSTEDT Exs. 14; GROVES 

 Exs. 27. 



Stem and branchlets much stouter than in the type. 

 Primary rays of sterile branchlets straight ; secondary 

 rays usually shorter than in the type, sometimes less 

 than one-eighth the length of the primary, often single. 



In lakes, in rather deep water. Westmoreland,. 

 Kirkcudbright, Perth, W., M.,& E., Longford, Donegal, 

 W. 



Seemingly confined to the Northern lakes. In its extreme- 

 form it is strikingly different from the type, having a much 

 stouter stem and branchlets. 



