BATRACHOSPERME^. 289 



" The extreme elegance of form and of colour renders this Batracho- 

 spermum remarkable ; its stems are rather more branched than those of 

 the variety confusum, and less than those of B. moniliforme, are from 2 

 to 3J inches long 1 , slender, and of an intermediate diameter. The globules 

 are perfectly sphaerical, distant upon the stems from each other the 

 length of a ray, more approximate, flattened, but always distinct in the 

 branches. Its colour is a clear grey, approaching to a most agreeable 

 violet ; this last tint becomes dominant in drying, and passes sometimes 

 to red."- -Hassall. 



Plate CXXI.fg. a, portion of filament X 30 ; fig. b, smaller portion 

 X 200. 



var. proliferum. Kutz. 



Stem and primary branches densely set with short accessory 

 branchlets. 



SIZE. Cellules -018 X -01 mnr, diam. 



Kabh. Alg. Eur. iii., 406. 



Batracliospermum proliferum, Hass. Alg. 112, t. 63, f. 1. 



B. moniliforme, f3 proliferum, Carm. MSS. 



" Frond solitary, or in small clusters, 1 or 2 inches long, irregularly 

 branched, branches divaricate, curved, or flexuous, opaque, and very 

 dark coloured, beset with short ramuli, which issue out from the joints 

 among the whorls, of eccentric filaments, and are themselves beset with 

 whorls. Colour grey. Carmichael. 



Plate CXJ.II. Portion of filament x 200 diam., from original speci- 

 men. 



var. confusum. Hass. Alg. 105, t. 15, /. 1. 



For the most part bright violet, 2-3-4 inches long, and simi- 

 larly expanded, densely involved in a gelatinous mucous, whorls 

 approximate, with numerous interstitial ramuli irregularly dis- 

 posed. 



SIZE. Cellules '02--022 x -01 mm. 



Eabh. Alg. iii., 405. Kirchn. Alg. Schles, 45. 



Batracliospermum confusum, Hass Alg. 105. 



J5atracliospermum giqanteum, Kutz. Tab. Phyc. iii., t. 23. 



Batrachosperma ludibunda confusa, Bory. Ann. des Mus. xx., 

 t. 29, f. 3. 



" Of all Batrachosperms this acquires the greatest dimensions. Its 

 length is sometimes four inches and a half, its diameter equal often to 

 that of the culms of grasses. Its branches appear also to be less obtuse 

 than in the other varieties. The globules, or whorls, are so approximated 

 and so large that they are often confounded together in such a manner 

 as to be with difficulty distinguished in certain specimens which have the 

 aspect of B. lielmintosum. The colour of the plant is of a monse-grey, 

 agreeable by its transparency. The large stems approach a little upon 

 yellow. These tints become of a beautiful violet by putrefaction. It is 

 upon individuals of this variety that I made for the first time, twelve 

 years ago, an experiment which ought to be known ; after having many 



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