Fig. 326.a CONFERVA ^REA. 
Colour. A beautiful yellow-green ; fading in the herbarium to a dirty white. 
Substance. Harsh and brittle ; but unable to support itself when removed from the water. 
Character of Frond. Long, upright, unbranched, jointed threads {filaments)^ as thick as hogs’ 
bristles ; growing in tufts from a disc-like root. 
Joints. About as long as broad, generally ; occasionally longer ; visible to the naked eye ; 
filled with green colouring matter {endochrome)., which in drying runs close up to the 
partitions (dissepiments) leaving the middle empty. 
Measurement. From 3 to 12 inches long. 
Fructification. As before in Cladophora. 
Habitat. Our coasts generally. On sand-covered rocks between tide-marks. Frequent. 
Resembling C. Melagonium, but more tufted ; softer ; and not nearly so stiff. 
Fig. 326.b CONFERVA MELAGONIUM. 
Colour. Dark green. 
Substance. Stiff ; wiry ; rigid. 
Character of Frond. Long, upright, unbranched, jointed threads (^filaments), thicker than 
hogs’ bristles ; a few (sometimes but one) growing together from a disc-like root. 
Joints. Twice as long as broad, filled with dark green colouring matter (endochrome). Par- 
tition-lines (^dissepiments) somewhat contracted ; very narrow. 
Measurement. From 5 to 8 inches high. 
Fructification. As before. 
Habitat. Our coasts generally. On rocks at low-water mark. Not common anywhere. 
Springs occasionally in an aquarium. 
Fig. 327. CONFERVA COLLABENS. 
Colour. A splendid glossy, verdigris-green. 
Substance. Soft ; gelatinous ; flabby ; slippery. 
Character of Frond. A large tuft of long, straight, jointed threads (filaments)^ unbranched ; 
growing from a piece of deal. Filaments of extraordinarily various thicknesses. 
Joints, From once to once and a half as long as broad ; at first filled with a very dense green 
colouring matter (endochrome)^ which afterwards contracts into a dark spot in the 
centre. 
Measurement. Three or 4 inches long. 
Fructification. Minute seeds (^zoospores) formed of the colouring matter in the joints, collected 
into a round central mass {sporidium)^ which in due time bursts out. 
Habitat. Once found upon floating timber on the beach at Yarmouth. 
Now Hormotrichum collabens. 
