192 DR. HICKS ON A NEW BRITISH SPECIES OF DRAPARNALDIA. 



Description of a New British Species of Draparnaldia. 

 By J. B. Hicks, Esq., M.D., F.L.S. 

 [Eead November 18, 1856.] 

 I eottnd the following Draparnaldia two years since, and again 

 this year, in the bog-streams of the New Forest, Hampshire. I 

 have been nnable to find it described in any of the works which I 

 have obtained ; I have therefore named it Draparnaldia cruciata, 

 from the cruciate arrangement of its parts, and beg leave to sub- 

 mit a description as follows : — 



Draparnaldia cruciata, Kicks. 

 Frond 3 to 4 inches long, light green, paler than Drop, plumosa or D. glo- 

 merata, haying a flocculent appearance in water ; when removed it is highly 

 mucous. Main filament — cells fasciated, very slightly inflated, 3-4 times 

 longer than wide, about 330th inch diameter. Hamuli proceeding from 

 main filament at right angles, mostly in whorls of four, cruciately ; the in- 

 tervals between the principal ramuli great, about every 50-60 cells of main 

 filament between them ; cells as wide as long, especially the younger, not 

 fasciated. Ultimate tufts springing in a cruciate manner from the ramuli ; 

 their branches springing nearly at right angles gives them an arborescent 

 appearance, bearing cilia of extreme tenuity and length. The tufts also 

 arise from the main filament at about every 5-10-20 cells distant. From 

 the base of the ramuli, and even from the smaller tufts, roots arise very 

 freely, which coil round the filament many times ; sometimes the end 

 diverges from it, and becomes a small tuft. These rooted ramuli be- 

 coming disengaged float away, and form another plant. The main fila- 

 ment and ramuli are invested with a most perceptible layer of mucus, about 

 6 diameters of the cell. This layer is less seen after the plant has been 

 kept for a day or two in a glass, when it will be found covered with the 

 spores that have been generated. The spores are not so large as those of 

 D. glomerata, being about -g^ th inch long diameter and g^o^h short 

 ditto, with cilia. 



This species is found attached to sticks and stones in streamlets 

 issuing from some of the New Forest bogs. In its young state it 

 is of a very pale yellow-green, but when older it is rather greener. 

 It may be easily distinguished from Drop, glomerata, D. plumosa, 

 and D. tripartita, 1st, by the ramuli diverging at right angles ; 

 2ndly, by the cruciate arrangement throughout; 3rdly, by the 

 perceptible mucous sheath, thus drawing it closer to the genus 

 Chcetophora ; 4thly, by the excessive length of the cilia ; 5thly, by 

 the extraordinary length and frequency of the radicles ; 6thly, by 

 the more equal width of the main cells, as also their greater length ; 

 7thly, by the stiff and formal appearance of the larger tufts, so 

 unlike the thick flexible tufts of the other species. The long 

 interval between the ramuli gives the main filament a much more 

 naked appearance. 



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