FRESHWATER WEEDS. 175 



plant. Its thread-like branches attain a foot in length ; 

 they are of a blackish green, and float in stagnant 

 water. My specimens are from the neighbourhood of 

 Edinburgh, and were gathered in the summer. Dillwyn's 

 Vaucheria is very common. I first saw it at Hawkhurst, 

 in Kent. Heavy rains had fallen continuously for several 

 weeks, and the hop-growers were on the verge of despair 

 — the clay soil held the water, and the lawn became a 

 morass. After awhile I saw dark green threads growing 

 in tufts at the foot of the grass-plants, and gradually 

 forming little mats around them. Their tiny stems were 

 irregularly branched. It was the first Vaucheria I had 

 found, and greatly did I rejoice over it. The Budded 

 Vaucheria (V. gemmata), so called 

 from the buds growing on the sides 

 of the branches, and present in a less 

 degree in the other species, is to be 

 seen frequently in dense floating 

 masses. It is of a light green; its 

 long; branches are verv much en- 



i i t^ i i " tt i i 1 VAUCETERIA. 



tangled. ronds about Hawkhurst 2 conferva. 



furnish abundant specimens. The Bird's-eye Vaucheria, 

 (V. ornithocephala) is of a brownish colour, much 

 branched, and forming elegant tufts. It grows in pools 

 and ditches in autumn. My specimen came from 

 Ecclesfield. Ditch banks in Kent and Wilts have 

 furnished me with the ground Vaucheria (V. terrestris). 

 It lies like green coating on the earth, and is rough to 

 the touch, being beset with bristles. 



The Grain-like Botrydium is a near relative of the 



