Cuara. CLXVI. CHARACEZ. 637 
A. Caroxiniana. Willd. . 
Leaves arranged in two rows upon the rhizoma, imbricated, oblong-subu- 
late, obtusish, spreading, fleshy, the floating ones reddish beneath.—@ A small 
plant, resembling some of the mosses, floating in still or sluggish waters, North- - 
ern and Western States. It has been found in Lake Ontario, and in Cayuga 
Marsh (Eaton), also in the Ohio river at Louisville, Ky. (Z’Murt,) and other 
western rivers. 
Orpver CLXVI. CHARACEA).—Cuaraps. 
Plant aquatic, submersed; axis consisting of parallel, tubular cells, either transparent, or encrusted 
with carbonate of lime, furnished with leaves or branches consisting of verticillate tubes. : 
Organs of reproduction consisting of round, succulent globules, containing filaments and a fluid; and 
— — les formed of a few short tubes twisted spirally around a centre, endowed with the power 
of germination. 3 
These are remarkable for the distinct current, readily observable with a microscope, in the fluid of each 
tube of which the plant is composed. The currents instantly cease when the plant is injured. 
CHARA. 
Gr. xXatpw, to rejoice; because it delights in the water? 
Globules minute, round, reddish, dehiscent, filled with a mass of 
elastic filaments; nucules (thecze?) sessile, oval, solitary, membrana- 
ceous, spirally striated, the summit indistinctly cleft into 5 valves, 
the interior filled with minute spores. 
1. C. vutGiris. Feather-beds. 
Sts. and branches naked at base ; branches terete, leafy at the joints ; Jus. (or 
branchlets?) oblong-subulate; dracts shorter than the fruit—A slender, flexile 
plant of a dull green color, found in ponds and ditches generally stagnant. It 
appears in dense tufts, like a-soft bed, undulating with the motion of the water. 
When taken out, it has an offensive odor. Stems slender, a foot or more long, 
with a verticil of about 8 filiform branchlets at each joint. June. 
2. C. FLEXILIS. 
St. translucent, naked; branches jointless, leafless, compressed; nucules 
lateral, naked.—Found in ponds, Stockbridge, Ms., in company with Najas. 
Resembles the last, but the stems are shorter and more erect, nearly destitute of 
the verticils of branchlets. It is annual, as are also all the other species. Aug. 
3. C. Fotiésa. Willd. (C. squamosa. Desf.) 
St. solitary, 8—10’ high, calearious and brittle, scabrous, striate, with 2 
or. 3 branches, the younger parts bearing numerous whorls of minute, leaf- 
like scales ; branchlets about 13 in a whorl, 6—9” long, involucrate at their ori- 
gin by a dense whorl of subulate scales; each branchlet with 4—7 whorls of 
nearly obsolete scales; thece 2—4, on the inner side and lower half of each 
branchlet.—@ Rivers, Ohio, Riddell, Ind.! Aug. 
4. C. numiuis. Riddell. © 
St. inerusted, solitary and branching, scabrous, not sulcate, 2—3/ high; 
branchlets 8—10 in a whorl, without an involucre, generally equaling the inter- 
nodes ogee thece 1—2 on each of the branchlets in the upper whorls.— 
@ In shallow water, rivers, Ohio, Riddell. Color deep green. Resembles the 
last. Aug. 
5. C. saputosa. Riddell. Stone-wort. 
St. 18’ high, thickly encrusted and very brittle, with a few erect branches, 
subsulcate, papillose ; branchlets generally 10, sometimes 8, in each whorl, with- 
out an involucre, nearly 6” long, (about half as long as the internodes,) each 
with 2—4 verticils of scales; thece on the inner side of the branchlets, in the 
axils of the scales.—() Pools of clear water, 2 or 3 feet deep, Ohio, Ind.! Color 
light pea-green. Aug. 
B. spiralis. Riddell. Stems spirally sulcate ; branchlets longer. 
