ALGOLOGICAL NOTES 
III. А Woop-PENETRATING ALGA, GOMONTIA LIGNICOLA, N. SP. 
GEORGE T. MOORE 
Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden 
Engelmann Professor in the Henry Shaw School of Botany of 
Washington University 
Some years ago while collecting on the island of Nashawena, 
one of the Elizabeth Islands near Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 
I found in a small fresh-water pond a yellow pine board which 
was more or less covered with a blue-green slime and accord- 
ingly it was taken to the laboratory for further investigation. 
The blue-greens proved to be nothing unusual, but occa- 
sional there appeared irregular grass-green cells which 
seemed to be some unicellular form, and, since this could 
not be identified, the board was retained for further study. 
Investigation soon showed that the single cells were capable 
of germination, producing filaments of a millimeter or two in 
length, but it was not until the last few months, after the alga 
had been kept under observation for more than six years, 
that enough of the life history could be determined to identify 
the genus. Although from the first it was noted that the best 
way to obtain single cells was to scrape off the accumulation 
of Oscillatoria and Aphanocapsa on the surface, it was not 
recognized until later that the filaments were actually im- 
bedded in the tissues of the wood and that this was not due 
to disintegration; in fact the pine board was in an excellent 
state of preservation, the part not submerged partially retain- 
ing its yellow color. As soon as the typical sporangia were 
secured it became evident that the alga was a Gomontia,—a 
fact which, from its habitat, might have been guessed before. 
But it must be confessed that in spite of this hint, I failed 
entirely to note the affinities of my plant with that of Gomontia 
polyrhiza until after the life history had been fairly well made 
out. 
While the species to which I shall refer as G. lignicola has 
the well-marked characters of the genus, it differs in several 
ANN. Mo. Вот. GARD., VOL. 5, 1918 (211) 
