Mr. C. C. Babington on the British species of Chara. 83 



Nat. Order. CHARACEiE, Rich. 



Genus Chara, Linn. 



Section I. Nitella. Crown of the nucule of "ten cells, form- 

 ing two circles one lying upon the other, never spreading, gene- 

 rally falling off before the maturation of the seeds " (A. Braun) . 

 Stems more or less pellucid, composed of a single tube. 



A. Nitella vera. Globules terminal at the furcation of the 

 branchlets. 



a. Furcatce. Branchlets only once divided with one-jointed segments, 

 6-8 in a whorl, similar. 



1. C. flexilis (Linn.) j monoecious, stem slender equal flexible 

 transparent, branchlets pointed but not mucronate nearly equally 

 forked or trifid, nucules and globules together in the forks of 

 the branchlets without bracts. 



C. flexilis, Linn. Sp. PL 1624 (in part) ; Eng. Bot. t. 1070 ; A. 



Braun in Flora, xviii. 50 ; Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 2. i. 351. 

 C. Brongniartiana, Wedd. in Cat. FL Paris. 152. 

 Nitella Brongniartiana, Coss. et Germ. FL Paris. 682 ; Atl. t. 40 C. 



Rather slender, green, pellucid. Primary branchlets seldom 

 more than once divided. Sometimes the axillary branchlets are 

 much more divided and clustered, when it has passed for C. nidi- 

 fica with collectors. Nucules with six strise. 



Henley near Ipswich, Buddie. Yarmouth, Mr. D. Turner. 

 Berrington Pool, Salop, Rev. E. Williams. In the river at Bed- 

 ford, Dr. Abbot-, Smith. Richmond, Yorkshire, Mr. J. Ward. 

 Stowting, Kent, Rev. G. E. Smith. Whitehorn, Wigtonshire ; 

 Clova, Forfarshire, Prof. Balfour. Reche Lode, and Lord's Bridge 

 near Barton, Cambridgeshire. 



Annual. May. "April to August," Sm. 



2. C. syncarpa (Thuil.) j dioecious, stem slender equal flexible 

 transparent, branchlets bluntish apiculate nearly equally forked 

 or trifid, nucules or globules at the forks of the branchlets 

 without bracts. 



C. syncarpa, " Thuil. FL Par. 473 ;" A. Braun in Flora, xviii. 51 ; 



Ann. Sc. Nat. ser. 2. i. 352 ; Mutel FL Franc, iv. 160. 

 Nitella syncarpa, Coss. et Germ. FL Par. 682 ; Atl. t. 39 (not good). 



A slender diaphanous plant closely resembling C. flexilis, but 

 dioecious. Nucules with five striae and scarcely any crown. It 

 is the supposed C. gracilis of Mr. W. Wilson in Hook. Bot. 

 Misc. i. 336. No. 2. 



Woodmancote, Sussex, Mr. Bower. Cwm Idwel, Caenarvon- 

 shire. Ma'am, Galway. 



Annual. May. 



6* 



