CONFERVACEiE. 271 



founded. I am not acquainted with the plant, and I am 

 therefore unable to add anything to Dr. Harvey's de- 

 scription, which I have given above. 



Cladophora repens. The creeping Cladophora. 



Fronds very slender, the lower part creeping, set with 

 root-like fibres, which connect them into very dense, circular 

 or oblong, cushion-like tufts of an inch or more in diameter ; 

 branches springing from the joints of the main thread at a 

 right angle to the decumbent portion, about half an inch 

 long, erect, simple or once forked ; branchlets few, simple, 

 secund; cells very long, only three or four in each fila- 

 ment ; colour when growing, dark-green, when dried, dingy 

 olive-green. 



The first British specimen of this species was collected 

 in Jersey, by Miss Turner. It was cast on shore, and 

 the plant has not been again observed in the same loca- 

 lity. As it probably grows in deep water, and is very 

 small, this fact is by no means remarkable, and cer- 

 tainly must not be accepted as a proof that specimens 

 do not exist in the neighbourhood. The other recorded 

 habitats are the Mediterranean and the Adriatic, so that 

 the species would appear to be a native of the South. 

 The very great length of the cells affords a ready means 

 of distinguishing C. repens from all British Cladophora 

 with which it can be confounded. It is furnished with 

 root-like fibres, and for that reason I place it near those 

 species which possess that character. 



