CHAPTER XX. 



THE GREEN FELT: VAUCHERIA. 



204. Description of vaucheria. The plant vaucheria usually 

 occurs in dense mats floating on the water or lying on the damp 

 soil. The texture and feeling of one of these mats reminds one 

 of " felt, " and the species are sometimes called the ' ' green felts/' 

 The threads are quite ^tiltSk coarse and are 



branched. Upon exami- nation with the mi- 



croscope we find that the /j$$i?jj tnre ads are contin- 



uous, that is, there are no cross-walls as in 



spirogyra dividing the thread up into short 



cells. The chlorophyll is il$jjijj ^ n sma ^ ova ^ bodies 



scattered over the inside Jil!?*%ilr * t ^ ie wa ^ ^ tne 



tube. These are the char- Jllt%f^ acters of the vegeta- 



tive threads. A portion of S^li$ a vegetative thread 



is shown in fig. 95, Cross- jB|jffi|if walls are formed 



only where reproductive J^|w ce ^ s or organs are 



formed, which cut them rails' ^ ^ rom tne re- 



Portion of branched thread of vaucheria. 



mainder of the vegetative thread. This plant multiplies in 

 several ways which would be too tedious to detail here. The 

 sexual reproduction,* however, should be studied if possible, 



* Oedogonium maybe studied in place of vaucheria if preferred and if 

 material is more easily obtained. Vaucheria is usually more abundant and 



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