OF THE CHARACE2E. 107 



CHAPTER XL 



OF THE CHARACE^. 



The individuals grouped under the term Characeae have 

 found a great difficulty in establishing a place in nature. 

 The) r have been a kind of vegetable outcasts, ' casuals,' 

 without any special ward assigned to them ! The truth is, 

 that while their organs of reproduction are those of a 

 Cryptogam, their external form so nearly resembles that of 

 many of the higher orders, that the earlier botanists may 

 well be excused for having given them a habitation among 

 the latter. The great Linnaeus ranged them in his class 

 and order, Monoecia Monandria, removing them, strange to- 

 say, from a place which he had formerly given them, and 

 which was much nearer to the truth, among the Crypto- 

 gamia, not far from the Lichens. Jussieu, De Candolle, and 

 Kobert Brown retained them among the Phanerogamia ; 

 -Agardh and Wallroth referred them to the Algae. Only 

 recent authors, Hooker, Lindley, &c, have allowed their 

 claim to a separate order, and have fixed their identity as 

 members of the Cryptogamic family. But even now the 

 unfortunate Characeae are far from finding permanent rest, 

 being bandied about from one neighbourhood to another, 

 from Algae to Fungi, and from Fungi to Lichens and Equi- 

 setaceae. Without pretending to lay any claim to sys- 

 tematic accuracy in this little work, I believe that we are 

 adopting a right course in placing our troublesome proteges 

 between the Algae and Fungi ; their tubular stems recalling 

 the former, while the spore-like bodies contained in the 

 nucule seem to mark their affinity with the latter. Like 

 many of the Algae, too, a large number of Charas are gifted 

 with the power of encrusting their stems and branches 



