BIOLOGICAL PAPERS. 143 



THE OCCURREXCE OF THE RARE ALGA. GLOEOTAE- 

 XIUM, IX ILLIXOIS. 



By E. X\ Tr-\xseau, 

 Eastern Illinois State X'ormal School, Charleston. 



This Alga, Glocoiacnium Loitleshergjerwuum Hansg. was first 

 described by Hansgirg^ in 1890 from material collected in Aus- 

 tria. It has since been found at other places in Austria, Italy 

 and the East Indies.- In the "Pflanzenfamilien,"" Wille gives a 

 description which is incorrect in several respects and places it 

 among the doubtful genera of the Desmidiaceae.^ In 1905 it was 

 described by G. S. West* from the island of Trinidad, and classi- 

 fied near the genus Gloeocystis, among the Chaetophoraceae. 

 Collins® follows the description of West and gives Trinidad as 

 the only station in the western hemisphere. 



During the summer of 1910, the writer collected numerous 

 specimens of this plant at Charleston. The habitat is an area of 

 about two square meters on the northeast corner of a small arti- 

 ficial pond made by the removal of clay for the manufacture of 

 tiles. The water is very shallow, not over a foot in depth when 

 the water is highest. Although numerous collections have been 

 made at other points in this pond and adjoining ponds, no other 

 station was found. The collections made later than September 

 have thus far yielded no specimens. A point of additional inter- 

 est in connection with the habitat is that the pond has been in 

 existance about twenty years. The alga as found here consists 

 of two or four celled families. It is of such size and striking 

 appearance that it is not likely to be overlooked when even a 

 picture of it has once been seen. Here is an opportunity for the 

 imagination to account for the introduction of this plant in this 

 far remote habitat. 



^Hansgirg, A. L'eber neue Susswasser und Meeresalgen. Sitzber. K. Bohm. Ges. 

 1890, p. 10. 



*DeToni, G. B. Frammenti algologici VIII. Sopra la sinonimia e la distribu- 

 zione geographica del Gloetaenium Loitlesbergeruabum Hansg. Rev. Bot. Cent. 62 : 

 110. 1895. 



^Wille, X., in Engler und PrantL Pflanzen familien I, 2, p. 159. 1897. 



*West, G. S., West Indian Fresh Water Algae. Jour. Bot. 42: 281. 1904. 



'Collins, F. S. The Green Algae of North America. Tufts College Studies II, 

 p. 310. 1909. 



