RHODOPHYCE, OR FLORIDEZ 207 
NEMALIONACES. 
General Characters—The fertilised carpogonium 
gives rise directly to the gonimoblasts, which form 
erect or more or less spread out tufts of branches ; 
these branches in one family (Gelidiew) unite with 
neighbouring thallus cells or with specially developed 
auxiliary cells. The order is subdivided into four 
families, of which the three following are marine ; 
one, viz. Lemanew, being exclusively freshwater. 
Helminthocladicw, 
The gonimoblast is a short tuft of cell-filaments, 
either free or within a common gelatinous envelope 
(Helminthora); as a rule the terminal cells, and ex- 
ceptionally also some of the cells next adjoining them, 
form the carpospores. After the terminal cell has 
emitted its carpospore, the supporting cell grows 
through it and produces within the old membrane a 
new spore-forming cell, and this process may proceed 
until the contents of the gonimoblast are exhausted. 
The gonimoblast is either external to the thallus or 
immersed within it, and does not possess a definite 
eystocarp wall, though sometimes a few enveloping 
filaments are wrapped aboutit. One genus, Batracho- 
spermum is peculiar to fresh-waters, and Chantransia 
occurs in both marine and fresh-waters. Among the 
fresh-water species of Chantransia there have been de- 
scribed a considerable number of sporophytic shoots 
of Batrachospermum and protonema-like shoots of 
