OF THE OIlDEii ALCJi:. 
Gloionema, Agardh. 
G£N, Char. Fila gelatinosa, tenacia, continua, intus 
longitudindiiter farcta sporangiis ellipticis. 
Gloktiema apiculatum, mifii. 
iQMonema;Jronde continua, Jiliforme, ramosa aliqucmdo 
jasckulata ; granulis cylindraceo-oUongis ; apicibus ramu- 
lorum incrassatis, apiculatis. Tab. viii. fig. I. 
Hab. Ad saxa marina, ubi ab undis marinis fere semper 
inundatur. 
This plant, which appears to have hitherto escaped the 
observation of botanists, grows in the form of small lax 
tufts, from half an inch to near one inch in height. The 
individuals which compose them are filiform, about a^ thick 
as a hog's bristle, of a yellowish or olive-green colour, ex- 
tremely flexible, and yielding to the slightest motion of the 
water ; and although very tender to appearance, they possess 
considerable tenacity. Each thread or ^iem. is at first 
simple, and subattenuated at its base. It soon throws out 
a few branches (sometimes in a fasciculated manner), which 
are continued simple to the summit, where they are not 
uhfrequently shortly forked. The apices of the branches 
are incrassated, of a darker colour, and terminate in a re- 
rnarkable semi-transparent apiculus, which of itself is suffi- 
cient to determine the plant. The whole frond is filled 
with a gelatinous transparent mass, containing throughout 
its whole substance oblong and cylindrical granules, which 
ijscape by incision and slight pressure. 
It adheres closely to paper and mica, and, if preserved 
on the latter, recovers its form on being moistened with 
water. 
