104 ^ BATKACHOSPERME^. 



^' Batracliosperma (bombusina) Jilamentis ramosis ; articidis 

 elongatis ; verticillis minutissimis, distdntibus conoideis.^'' 

 — Boiy de St. Vincent, Annales du Museum, vol. xii. 



Hab. Malahide near Dublin : Dr. Coulter, 



" This beautiful plant grows in the Isles of France and of 

 Re-union. It covers pebbles in places exposed to the cur- 

 rents of great rivulets, particularly at the Great River and 

 the river of Saint Denis. 



"Its colour is of the most elegant green; but if the speci- 

 mens of this plant be not quickly prepared, they very soon 

 turn black upon the paper. 



" From a principal filament from two to four 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 verticilli, they are rounded, smaller than those 

 of the following species, composed of very compact branch- 

 lets. Their simple ramuli are likewise shorter than in the 

 other Batracliosperms ; three or four rounded joints compose 

 them : the ciliform appendage which terminates them is re- 

 markable. Some ramuli, shorter than those of the verti- 

 clllmu, cover also the inferior part of the articulations, which 

 have the appearance of reversed cones." — Bory. 



Bory's descriptions and figures of this species are so ac- 

 curate, as to leave no doubt either as to its specific distinct- 

 ness, or its identity with the plant collected by Dr. Coulter. 



The exact correspondence of the specimens collected in the 

 Isles of France and of Re-union is remarkable with those found 

 in Ireland, and helps to confirm the opinion which I have 

 long entertained that the different species of the freshwater 

 division of the Alf/ce are almost universally diffiised. 



