1882.] 



On , 



■ American /onus of Chara c 



V^l 



pachygyra (var. gracilis Allen ined.). Plant slender, elongated, 

 15 to 20 cm in height. Verticils consisting of 9-10 leaves, distant. 

 Leaves much shorter than the internodes, the lower spreading ; the 

 upper fruiting ones connivent; articulations few, usually three, 

 the two lower nodes bearing fruit, the upper sterile, the fertile 

 nodes usually connivent while the subterminal internode is elon- 

 gated and divergent. Stipules very slender and rather short ; 

 bracts slender, usually verticillate, much shorter than the sporan- 

 gium, the anterior longer than the lateral, the posterior very 

 small, sometimes wanting, the terminal bracts form, with the 

 short terminal segment of the leaf, a triple tuft. Sporangia and 

 antheridia usually duplicated on the two lowest nodes of the leaf- 

 Sporangia large in comparison with the size of the plant, with 

 about eight whorls on one side ; coronula of short pointed some- 

 what divergent cells; altitude of cells of coronula in mature 

 sporangia about 100 //. Nucleus broadly oval, 480 to 520 ft. 

 long, with five or six thick ribs. 



This form differs in habit of growth from all other known vari- 

 eties. It was gathered near Silver City, New Mexico, by Mr. Rushy 

 in 1880, being found in only one pool. It occupies an interme- 

 diate position between var. Braunii tenera (Forma 1) and the large 

 fruited forms from Pennsylvania and Kansas, which seem almost 

 identical with the East Indian var. Coromandelina A. Br. Explana- 

 tion of the plate; 1, a partial view of a verti- ^= — ~ 

 cil, showing the relative size and position of 

 the stipules ; 2, a front view of the first node 

 of a leaf, showing at a the points of attach- 

 ment of the antheridia which have been re- 

 moved ; 3, a lateral view of a second 1 



ith . 



s,-g„ 



Of i 



ung sporangiu 



ripe , 



5, the 





carpa, meioptila, verticil- 

 lata, tenuior. This form was collected in 

 California, at "King's river," by Berggren 

 in 1875, and sent me by Professor Nordstedt. FlG ^~_^, IU 

 The plant is slender and diffuse, and is inter- ' ' var. 4. 

 mediate between the extreme small-fruited unilateral forms and 

 the medium-fruited verticillate ones. The bracts are verticillate, 



