CRYPTOGAMIA ALG.E. 243 



Berwickshire, in round dense tufts about half an inch in 

 height. 



2. T. chalybaa, blackish-green; filaments erect, very short, close- 

 ly crowded, branched ; branches erect, straight, alternate, some- 

 what fastigiate; articulations 3 times their breadth Conferva 

 chalybaa, DILLW. Conf. p. 61, t. 91. Ectocarpus chalybaus, LYNGB. 

 Hydroph. Dan. 133. t. 44. 



Hob. On rocks in front of little cascades, covering them in 

 broad irregular velvet-like patches. In the dean oppo- 

 site Edrington-mill. Spring. 



The filaments are pellucid under the magnifier, and distinctly 

 jointed. The branches are alternate, most numerous towards 

 the top, erect and rather close. My specimens were 

 very exact to the figure and description of LYNGBYE, and 

 while I agree with him in quoting the work of DILLWYX, 

 I cannot consent to the opinion of those who consider this 

 a mere variety of the preceding. The colour of the two 

 is totally different ; the one is much larger and tufted, the 

 other is very short, and grows in patches ; the one is the 

 extraneous ornament of mosses and aquatic plants, the 

 other invests stones and rocks, to which it adds no beauty. 



146. AMPHICONIUM. 



1. A. aureum, orange-coloured, csespitose, short; filaments 

 branched, entangled, somewhat rigid ; branches spreading ; arti- 

 culations longer than broad. SPRENG. Syst. Veg. iv. 344. Byssus 

 aurea, LIGHTF. Scot. 1002. Conferva aurea, DILLW. Conf. 54. 

 t. 35. and t. C sup. Eng. Bot. t. 212. Ceramium aureum, HOOK. 

 Scot. ii. 86. Ectocarpus aureus, GREV. Fl. Edin. 315. 



Hob. On moist sandstone rocks, not rare. At the side of 

 the footpath leading through the plantation above Ord- 

 mill. Ravine below Marshall Meadows. 



DILLWYN says that A. aureum is generally to be found on 

 calcareous rocks and in chalk-pits. In this neighbourhood 

 it affects no rock but sandstone, which it covers in irregu- 

 lar tufts or patches, which bear a striking resemblance to 

 a piece of orange-coloured velvet, and is a conspicuous and 

 rather pretty object. When dried it retains its beautiful 

 golden hue for some weeks, but ultimately changes to a 

 dull ash-colour. 



L 2 



