THE Fr.OKA OK NEHUASKA. 121 



Class VI. -HHODOPHYCEAE. 



'niiillus siinplo, or of branehoil lilanioits, or Icaf-Hko or l)ushy in growth, showiuj^ 

 inort' or less iliirorL'iitiaUou of colls iuto tissues; chlorophyll usually iiiaskod by some 

 shade of rod; carpogone as iu Coleochacte consisting of a cell with an upward prolonga- 

 tion (trichogyno), but closed at the top; antherids produced singly or in clusters on the 

 ends of branches; antherozoids without cilia Asexual reproduction by non-motile 

 totragonidia (tetraspores) formed on certain l)rauches or on any part of the |)lant-body, 

 but not usually found on sexual plants. 



After ferf ili/.ation, in the simpler forms {lliiiKjiiici'cn-), the contents of the carpogone 

 (livid(^ into eight parts which escape immediately as globular amoeboid colls and after a 

 time come to rest, develop a cell-wall, and germinate. In tlu^ higher famili(!s the contents 

 of the carpogone do not divide and escape after fertilization, but push out as lateral 

 protuberances which are cut off as separate spores having the jjowor to germinate im- 

 mediately. There are also other groups of this class in which the formation of the 

 carjiospore is much more complex. In most cases after fertilization a coating of cells 

 grows up from bcdow the carpogone surrounding it as inCohochuitc. It will be seen that 

 the reproduction of the lower forms differs only slightly from that of the Ocdoyuniaccdc 

 and Coh'ocliai Uiccac, to which they are evidently closely related. 



There is Init one order. 



Order lU.— FliOI{II>K.\K. — The characters of the class. Mostly marine, but a few 

 species widely distributed in fresh water. 

 But one faiuilj' is represented in our limits. 



Family.- NEMALIACEAE. 



Plant-body gelatinous, composed of an axial, br.inched, articulate filament, often 

 surrounded with a cortex of similar tilameuts, with horizontal, corymbose, or verticillate 

 branches on which are borne the antherids and car|iogoues. 



SYNOPSIS. 



Axial filament covered with a loose cortication of similar filaments.. . .DutrdchiisiHTiiunn 

 Filaments not corticated Vhantransia 



1. BATK,\CIIO!SPKKMl'M Rotii. V\. Germ. Ill,, !.-)(). ISOO. 



Axial filament surrounded l)y a cortex of similar parallel filaments, clothed 



with subglobose whorls of branchlets on the ends of which are borne the 



carpogones and antherids. 

 Etymology: Greek, /Jar/mv'";, frog, and c-tp/iov, seed. 



BatraolKJ^in'i'iiiiiiii o'eIatiiiu>>iiiii (L.) A. P. Woods Rep. Bot. Surv. Neb. III., 

 G. 18',)i. 

 Conferva gelatinosa Lisxe Spec. Pi. IICG. ILj."?. 

 Batrachoapcrmum moniliforme Roth 1. c. 



Plants 5-20 cm. long, 1-2 mm. broad, gelatinous, dark purplish-green; main 

 stems and branches composed of an axial, articulate filament covered 

 with a loose coat (cortication) of similar filaments from which arise at 

 more or less regular intervals dense globular whorls of moniliform, 

 dichotomously divided branchlets. 

 In springs, Bellevue. 



