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CHARACEiE. 



CHARA. 



1 . Chara involucrata> Roxburgh ? 



Planta pedalis, nigro viridescens. Caulis glaber vel spinu- 

 losis. 



Ramis sub 10, subulatis, ascendentibus, ramellis numero 

 duplice, subulatis suffultis. 



Ramuli ultimi parvi, infra flores caeterum minimi vel etiam 

 obsolete. 



Articulo ultimo vel 2 ultimis nitelloideis. 



Flos faem. super, masc, infer : ad latus internum articulo- 

 rum inferior., fern., ramulis 3-5 subulatis, subaequantibus suf- 

 fult. Masc. quasi nudum. 



Fl : Infimi multo minus praecociores, caeterum more solito. 

 Hab. Serampore in aquis stagnantibus dulcibus. 



Facile cognoscitur, colore atrescento, ramisque oculo nudo, 

 simplicibus. 



It agrees tolerably well with Roxburghs scanty character . 

 it looks more like a Nitella than a Chara. The cells of the 

 branch joints are scarcely, if at all spiral. Those of the stem 

 are, I think, shorter than ordinary. 



Are the suffultiug ramules analogous to stipules ? : they are 

 one on either side, and are what would not be incorrectly called 

 decurrent, they certainly protect the young branches. The con- 

 tents of the spore, or reproductive organ, are violeted by iondine. 



Iodine colours the male nuclei dark, leaving the membrane 

 while; \ Q of an inch does not shew the septa, 1500 does, 

 but not very plainly. 



The male organs of Chara are far more complex than those 

 of any other Cyrptogam, perhaps in accordance with the 

 greater similarity of the female to that of ordinary Phanero- 

 gams. It is however still reconcilable hypothetically, to the 

 type of an anther of Phanerogams in their younger periods 



