OSCILLATOKIACE^. 101 



III. LYNGBYA, Ag. 



Filaments destitute of mucous layer, free, flexible, unbrauclied, elongated, not oscil- 

 lating. Tube continuous, cylindrical, membranaceous ; endochrome green or purple, 

 densely annulated, at length separating into lenticular sporidia. (Marine or in fresli 

 water. ) 



A genus consisting of many species, most of which are found in the sea ; several 

 occur in estuaries of rivers and in brackish ditches, and a few are found in fresh water 

 or in thermal springs. From Oscillatoria they are known by the absence of a gelatinous 

 matrix and of oscillating movements, and by the greater flexibility of the filaments. 

 From C(-ilothru\ to which they are more nearly related, they differ chiefly in habit ; 

 especially in the great length of the filaments, and in being rarely fasciculate. The 

 generic name is given in honour of H. C. Lyngbye, a Danish Algologist, and author of 

 an excellent work on the Algas of Denmark. 



1. Lyngbya majuscida, Harv. ; filaments thick, very long and tenacious, twisted, 

 issuing in long, crisped bundles from a blackish green stratum. Harv. Fhyc. 

 Brit. t. 62. Kiitz. Sp- Alg. p. 283. Lyngbya crispa, Ag. Syst. p. 74 (in part.). 

 Conf. majuscula, Dillw.! Supp. t.A. L. maxima, Mont. L. Pacijica, Kiitz. Sp. Alg. 

 p. 284. (Tab. XLVII. A.) 



Hab. Long Island Sound, Professor Bailey. Peconic Bay, 3Ir. Hooper. Key West, 

 W. H. H. and Mr. Ashmead. (v. v.) 



Tufts often several inches in diameter, the central portion densely interwoven or 

 stratified, the margins throwing off long bundles or fiiscicles of free, crisped, or variously 

 twisted filaments, one to two inches in length, and floating freely in the water. The 

 strata at first are attached to the bottom, but with age float to the surface and are cast 

 ashore in large masses. The diameter of the filament is greater than in any other 

 species, being commonly rather more than -05 of an inch. The Key West specimens are 

 rather less broad than usual. The slicath or tube of the filament is thick, and forms a 

 wide, hyaline margin to the dark-coloured, closely but not strongly annulated endochrome. 



The L. maxima, Mont. {L. pacifica, Kiitz j which I have gathered in great abundance 

 on the shores of the Friendly Islands, appears to me to be merely a luxuriant state of 

 this common species. Except in tlie greater diameter of the filaments, and this varies 

 in different specimens, I see no character by which it may be distinguished. The species 

 (as understood in England) has a peculiar external habit, and its microscopic characters 

 —however difficult to describe— are easily remembered after having once been seen. 

 It was first found at Bantry, South of Ireland, by the late Miss Hutchins. 



Plate XLVII. A. Fig. 1. A tuft of Lyngbya majuscula, the natimd size. Fig. 2. 

 Portion of a filament, magnified. 



