Mr. J. Ralfs on Chantransia. 303 



British Algse/ again separated them, yet he justly remarks, that 

 deep-coloured specimens of Trentepohlia pulchella {Chantransia 

 Hermanni) so much resemble Callithamnion Daviesii as scarcely 

 to be distinguishable from it. 



Whilst, however, the red colour of some species of Chantransia 

 seems thus to indicate an affinity with the Rhodospermecs, the 

 inky-green of others appears to forbid us to rank the genus in 

 that order. Dr. Montague, a high authority, places it in Ecto- 

 carpece, a tribe belonging to the Melanospermea, and Kiitzing 

 refers it to the Confervea?. Chantransia has thus been associated 

 by authors of distinguished merit with the three great primary 

 divisions of the Algae, — a proof how difficult it is to ascertain its 

 proper position. As the contents of its capsules are simple and 

 not divided into tetraspores, I believe its correct situation is with 

 the Chlorospermece. 



1. C. Hermanni (Roth). Tufts dense, reddish; joints of filaments 

 three to five times longer than broad ; fructiferous ramuli patent, 

 capsules crowded. Conferva Hermanni, Roth, Cat. i. p. 164 

 (1797); Cat. hi. p. 180. Conferva nana, Dillwyn, Conf. t. 30 

 (1803) ; Smith, Eng. Bot. t. 2585. Chantransia Hermanni, Desv. 

 ( ?) ; Kiitzing, Phycologia Germanica, p. 230. Trentepohlia 

 pulchella, Agardh, Systema Alg. p. 37 (1824) ; Harvey in Hooker's 

 Brit. Flora, p. 382 ; Manual of Brit. Algae, p. 75 ; Hassall, Brit. 

 Algae, p. 75 - t. 8. f. 2. Auduinella Hermanni, Duby, Botanicon 

 Gallicum, p. 972 (1830). 

 On aquatic plants in streams. 



The tufts of Chantransia Hermanni are dense, soft and woolly, 

 not gelatinous, and adhere but imperfectly to paper ; they are 

 often confluent ; their colour is reddish, becoming tawny by age 

 and in drying. Filaments much branched, main branches elon- 

 gated, somewhat level-topped ; fructiferous branches lateral, nu- 

 merous, short, patent, much divided. Capsules at first oval or 

 clavate, finally orbicular, crowded in a corymbose manner, mostly 

 stalked. Joints of stem three to five times as long as broad, 

 those of fertile branches shorter. 



Chantransia Hermanni differs from C. chalybea in colour and 

 in its shorter joints and more patent ramuli. 



2. C. m^sfes (Lenormand). Parasitic, rose-red, much branched ; 

 joints many times longer than broad ; capsules solitary or in pairs, 

 lateral and terminal, clavate or obovate. Batrachospermum ru- 

 brum, Hassall, Brit. Algae, p. 113. t. 15. f. 2, 3 (1845). Chan- 

 transia investiens, Lenormand in Kutzing's Species Algarum, p. 431 

 (1849) ; Ralfs, British Alg. no. 12. 

 Parasitic on Batrachospermum moniliforme and B. atrum in a 



stream, Penzance, J. R. 

 France, Lenormand ! 



