BATRACHOSPERME.E. 291 



var. helmintosum. Bory Ann. d. Mus. t. 29, /. 2. 



Filaments branched, pyramidal, naked below, branches simple, 

 subpinnate, acute whorls contiguous, compressed. 



Batracliosperma helmintosa, Bory Ann. Mus. xx. p. 33. 

 Batrachospermum helmintosum, Hass. Alg. p. 105. 



" The stems of this beautiful species scarcely exceed 2 inches in length. 

 They are fine, and denuded at their base, which appears yellow. 

 Numerous branches proceed from it ; they are somewhat subulate, and 

 diminish in length in such a way that they incline from the extremities 

 of the plant, and give it a pyramidal appearance. The whorls are com- 

 pressed, voluminous, horizontal, and so approximated that they cannot 

 acquire the globular form ; they become confused, and form round the 

 steins a coutimious cylinder of mucosity. The diameter of this cylinder 

 equals often that of the plume of a little bird. The branches are not less 

 thick at their insertion. The colour of the plant is obscure, of a bluish 

 and uncertain green." Bory. 



var. bambusinum. Bory. Ann. d. Mus. t. 29, /. 1. 



Filaments sparingly branched, branches simple, cells much 

 elongated, whorls minute, distant. 



Batracliosperina bambusina, Bory Ann. Mus. xx. p. 32. 



Batracliospermum bombusinum (Bory). Hass. Alg. 103, t. 

 13, f. 3. 



" Its colour is of the most elegant green ; but if the specimens be not 

 quickly prepared they very soon turn black upon the paper. From a 

 principal filament, 2-4 inches long, proceed many long, slender, loose 

 branches, simple, or having sometimes here and there scattered, very 

 small branches, which are never divided. The articulations of the 

 principal stem, and of the larger branches, are for the most part naked ; 

 their point of contact is dilated in such a manner as to resemble the rods 

 of bamboos. As to the whorls, they are rounded, smaller than those of 

 the neighbouring species, composed of very compact branchlets. Their 

 simple ramuli are likewise shorter than in the other Batrachosperms ; 

 three or four rounded joints compose them ; the ciliform appendage 

 which terminates them is remarkable. Someraniuli, shorter than those 

 of the whorl, cover also the inferior part of the articulations, which have 

 the appearance of reversed cones." Bory. 



Batrachospermum vagum. (Rotli.} Ag. Syst. 52. 



Vaguely branched, 1-3 inches long, brownish or bluish-green ; 

 inferior internodes covered with a dense mass of branchlets, the 

 superior naked, or nearly so, apical joints of the branchlets 

 attenuated into a long bristle. 



SIZE. Cellules '025 x *012 mm. 



Eabh. Alg. Eur. iii., 406. Kirch. Alg. Scliles. 46. Eng. 

 Fl. v., 388. Eng. Bot. ii., 197. Harv. Man. 119. Hass. Alg. 

 109, t. 63, f. 2. Kutz. Spec. 536. 



ftatracliosperma turfosa, Bory Ann. des Mus. xX.j t. 32, f. 1, 



