Halsted.) 186 {March 5, 
Plants monecious, incrusted with lime; stem .55-.70 mm. broad, 
distinctly striate, spines small, arising from the furrows, stipular ring 
small, double; whoris rather numerous, composed of 6-10 leaves; 
leaves corticated except the upper articulation, which ends the leaf 
in a sharp point; bracts four at the fertile joints, two as long as, and two 
longer than, the sporangium. Sporangia oblong, .46-.80 mm. long, 
11-14-striate, crown contracted, spore brown. 
Including all its varieties, this is a widely spread and common 
species. In Europe the normal form is not so frequently found as 
some of the varieties. In Sweden it is rare, according to J. Wall- 
man in his treatise on the Chare of that country, and the statement 
accords with the inference to be drawn from Nordstedt and Wahl- 
stedt’s Scandinavian Characeae,in which not one of the thirty 
specimens is of the specific type. In the United States quite the 
reverse is true. 
In Herb. Gray: Diamond Valley, Nevada, (Watson); New 
Mexico (C. Wright, No. 14), and (A. Fendler, No. 1026); Santa 
Barbara Co., California (Dr. Torrey); San Diego Co., Cal. (Dr. 
Palmer, No. 437). Ames, Iowa (Prof. Bessey). The species is 
probably more common in the South and West than in the East. 
Var. longibracteata A. Br. 
Chara fetida, var. longibracteata, A. Braun, Schweiz. Char., 15; 
Coss. and Germ., Fl. Env. Par., 697. Chara longibracteata, 
Wallman, Char., 65. Chara vulgaris, var. longibracteata,: Kiitz., 
Sp. Alg., p. 306; Phyc. gen., 319; Phycol. germ., 258. 
Exsiccatae: Braun, Raben. and Stiz. Char. Exsic., 83. 
Illustrations: Coss. and Germ., Atlas Tab. 37, 1; Kiitz., Tabulae 
Phycol., vir, Tab. 60, 1. 
Leaves long, corticated for only a part of their length, upper por- 
tion with whorls of long bracts; bracts at fertile joints 2-3 times the 
length of the sporangia. 
This variety, as the name indicates, is characterized chiefly by the 
. great length of the bracts; but it also differs from the type in being 
smaller, whorls more numerous, and of a greener appearance. This 
is the common variety of Europe. With us the localities where it 
has been found are few, though bounding a wide extent of country. 
In Herb. Gray: New Mexico, (C. Wright, No. 3). Specimens were 
received from Prof. Bessey, Ames, Iowa, and Prof. Dudley, Ithaca, 
N.Y. Even among these few plants some variations are noticeable. 
