428 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [ DECEMBER 
developing from them. Schmidle found what he thought might be 
tetraspores, but questions their existence. The second, or Chantransia 
stage, develops directly from the former. The plants assume a Chan- 
transia-like form, growing up in little dark green or brown tufts on 
the surface of stones, etc., at the bottom of running streams. In this stage 
Thorea bears asexual spores in abundance. The third and most highly 
developed form of Thorea is the branching plant body described above. 
It develops from a union and growth of a number of Chantransia-like 
plants into a branching thallus of greater size, yet possessing all the 
forms of structure found in the preceding stages, with the addition of 
carpogones. 
The position of Thorea was long in doubt. Moebius in 1891-2 
placed it among the Floridez.’ Schmitz in 1892 placed it among the 
Phaeophycez,’ but changed his mind in 1894° and left it between this 
group and the Floridez, giving preference to the latter. Schmidle, 
who has devoted more time to the study of Thorea than any other 
botanist, is certain that it properly belongs to the Floridee for the 
following reasons: (1) in containing phycoerythrin, like the red sea- 
weeds; (2) in having cystocarps resembling those of Batrachosper- 
mum; (3) in that the hair cells contain intercellular protoplasmic 
connections typical of many of the lower Floridez ; (4) in developing 
from Chantransia-like forms in much the same manner as Batracho- 
spermum. 
The Nebraska specimens of Thorea agree in points of general 
structure with the published. descriptions of Zhorea ramosissima Bory, 
with a few exceptions. The plants have a decided olive-green color 
which persists in the herbarium specimens, rather than the purple 
tinge of the dried specimens from Worms and Paris. Our Thorea 
branches very sparingly, the longer branches often attaining a length 
of 3°" without side branches. On the contrary, the specimens from 
Worms and Paris are much branched, the diameter of the zone of hairs 
also being two or three times greater than that of the central portion 
while in ours the zone of hairs has nearly the same diaineter as the 
central portion. There is a marked difference in the hairs as found in 
our material and that obtained by Professor Saunders in Texas. In 
the former both the long and short hairs are of nearly equal diameter 
*Mogstus: Ber. d. deut. bot. Gesell. 10: 333-344. 1891; 11: 266-270. 1892. 
7SCHMITZ: Ber, d. deut. bot. Gesell. rr tII5-141. 1892. 
*ScuMitz: Nuova Notarisia 5°705-720. 1894. 
mn See eee 
