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Show 82 The Hijlory of P L AN T S. · £ fi 1 . 1 t that fcarce any of the botanical writers have miffed it, but It IS o ~~u ~~ ~~an , d many different generical names. Tournefort and the they ?ave e cr~ e lt u~ ~~e call it Fucus cavus, and Fucus tubulofus. Imperatus Bauh~nes make RJt a fuLcu:; y arl·na tubulofa. Plukenet, Lichen fluitans tubulofus; calls It Cava; ay, actuca m ' . Ul b I r. fi Buxbaum, C on fie rva 1a u" fio 1 1· a, fl av efcens , intus. cav.a '· and Lmnreus, va tu u 01a Im-lex . our common people call it the Sea Ch1tterlmg. . h" . p As• to t h e ot h er fip ec1·e s of the Ulva ' it is not eaf.y .t o .a f,c ert.a m them: not mg IS more 1r ft h b d · I h · th · s genus the fame fpecies m It s dwerent ates, as een e-certam t 1an t at, 10 I ' 'h r. ft "d ti and ind"fi fc ·b d fre uently for feveral different ones. W at 1eem mo ev1 en y 1 pu-tacbnl ye d J' ffie reqn t Jr. pect•e s, are, I. of the conferva kind ' as they are . callefdil k: thUerle are, I. TThhe fmall b :ffus-like Ulva. 2 : The forked Ulva. 3· The white, . 1 y _va. 4· . e fenn;l_]Je Sea-Ulva. 5. The forlted, brifily Ulva. ?· The d1tch, ha1ry Ulva. 7· Ul 8 The flocky Ulva 9 The reticulated, fine Ulva. 10 . The 1yphueng cyo tUtolvnay. Iv aI.. Th~ !hort, divaricated.Ulv~. 12. The cancellated Ulva, 13· The feathered Ulva. h bl dd h d d L · 2 Of thofe called T remellre by authors there are, 1. T e a .er- e~ e aver,. or Ulv~ de(cribed by Dillenius; and, 2. A {hort,. fmooth, and thtc~ kmd, confifimg of a 'much tougher membrane than the reft, which I have met w1th about Bognor Rocks in Suffex. . . . ffi h 11 d Let it not appear fin gular that, in this d1fin~\ltiOn. of the 1\:fo es, we ~ve a owe no fuch enus as the fmooth Confervre, fo many fpec1es of wbtch are defcnbed by authors. fhere can be no fucb genu_s, fince a M?fs compofed of ten?e~ and fmooth filaments if thofe filaments are folid, 1s a byffus; If they are hollow, ~t 1s an Ulva. '!'he 1i ecie; defc ribed by authors, under the names of Confervre fimphc:s, an~ e9.uab1les, !re partly of the one, partly of the other of thefe genera; the land kmds are, m general, byffi, and their names are given, at the end of .our account of that genus; the water ones are Ulv<e, and mentioned among the firft fenes here. M o ·s S E s. C!ajs tbe Second. Genus tbe Tbird. C 0 L LEMA. C 0 L L E MA is a genus of Mo:ffes, confifting merely of a gelatinous matter, re-fembling boiled. glue, or fize. . This is fometimes difpofed in form of filaments, fomettm~s o~ membranes, fametimes of neither, but perfeB:ly !hapelefs. No part of f~uc:tificatwn has ever yet been uifiingui{hed in any of the fpecies of this ge!ms. . . Authors who have written on thefe fubJeCts have been acquamted with many of the fpecies, but, as no generical charaCter has before been efi ablifh_ed fo~ them, they have arranged them among the Confervre, Ulv;E, Tremella:!, and Ltchenotdes, though it is evident that they l)aye not the charaCters of any one of thofe genera. Where t~e only obvious charaCter, indeed almofl: the only chara0er, of a fet of plants appears m their texture, it muft be allowed us to take the genencal charaCter from that. As ~o the clafs they belong to, it is evidently that of the tender, foliaceous ~o:ffes, as .their whole fubfiancc feems no other than a1 difi:ended matter of the fame kmd, and, m all of them, dries up to a membraneous fubfiance, who11y like what others nat~ rallr exhibit. We {hall here, according to our cufiom on the other occafions of th1s kmd,. ~lefcribe four or five of the fpecies at large, after which the others will be enfily dtfimguilhed by their names. I. Co/lema filamentofum crajftus. Thick, filamentous Co/lema. This is an aquatic fpecies. It extends itfelf in form of a thick, gelatinous matter, over ftones, and other folid bod ies, in our clear brooks and rivulets. The maffcs of it are three, four, or more inches in diameter, and of half an inch frequently in tbicknefs. It is extremely lubricous to the touch, and is fo tough as not to be ea1i1y broken to pieces. It's colour is a deep duiky purple. It appears, at fi rft fight, a mere mafs of The Hijlory of P t A N T S. of jelly, but, when more nearly examined, it is found to be compofed of a multitude of long, cylindric filaments, of a mucous, or gelatinous fubfiance, interwoven with one another in various direCtions, and laid fo clofe every- where, as to join, and, together, to. form this feemingly rude mafs of jell~. S~ch is the conditi?n of this Colle~a, when in It 's recent and frefh ftate; when dned, It becomes a thm membrane, hke parchment, of a fine, deep, violet purple; and the cylindric filaments it is compofed of are then very difiinclly vifible; they are flender, every-where of the fame diameter, and perfeCtly refemble thofe of the byili and finer ulv::e. I have met with it in fome of our trout rivers in Buckingham!hire, where it renders the fl:ones fo flippery, that, if the neceilities of the fport lead people a little way into the water, there is no fianding upon them. It is alfo found in the brooks among the Welch mountains. Some of the botanical writers have mentioned this. Dillenius makes it a conferva, and gives a tolerably perfeCt defcription of it, under the name of Conferva mucofa, confragofis rivulis innafcens. 2. Co/lema jilamentojum tenuius. The thinner, jilamentofi Co/lema. This is a fpecies of which the naturalifi: can preferve no fpecimen. It is fcarce pof£ ble to take it up out of the water, without defiroying it, and wholly impoilible to· make it retain any thing of it's form, in drying. It grows in fmall and roundia1 clufiers, or globules, at the bottom of ftanding waters, and confifis of a multitude of ramofe filaments, of a tender, gelatinous matter, which interfec:t one another in many places, and every-where cohere fo as to formJ in the whole, a mafs of an uniform, gelatinous fl:ruc:ture. It's colour is a duflr..y green, with an admixture of brown; it's texture fo extremely tender, that it falls to pieces on almofi: the leaft touch, and, if attempted to be dried wi~h the utmofi care, it only leaves a fmall, thin, and fhapelefs membrane. It grows to the mud at the bottom of ftill waters, and often in fuch quantities, as to cover almofi the whole furt1ce of it. It is very frequent about towns where the filth continually wa{hed into the ditches fills them with a light and loofe rich mud. The botanical writers have not miffed this ; and the appearance of fibres in it's texture has made them range it among the conferv~. Ray calls it Conferva gelatinofa, omnium tenerrima et minima, aquarum limo innafcens; and Dillcnius has detcribed it, under the fame name, in his Hifiory of Mo:ffes. It is either peculiar to England, or, to the credit of the Engliih botanifl:s, it is a plant overlooked by tho[e of all other nations. 3. Co/lema dicbotomum. The dichotomous Collenza. This is not only the moft beautiful of the whole genus of the Collema, but is one of the eleganteft of the whole tribe of Moffes. It grows to the length of three or four inches, and it's thicknefs, in the largeft part, is that of a finall packthread. It adheres to fome pebble, or other folid fubfiance, at the bafe, and rifes with a fingle fiem, which foon divaricates into two, each of thofc into two more, and each of thefe fubdivifions fepa rate ag~in and again in the fame manner, till, at the extremity, there are often fifty , fix:ty, or more branches. It is, throughout, of an elegantly-jointed fl:ruc:turc; the joints are oblong, and fomewhat larger at their tops than at their ba(es, fo that it refembles the ftruCl:ure of [orne of the corallines in appearance. The whole confit1s of a gelatinous fubfi:ance, fo foft that it is eafily defiroyed in handling. It's colour j., a pale purple, fometimes whitiili. It is difficult to take it up entire; but, if dned, it becomes an extremely thin and tranfparent membrane, adhering very firmly to the paper by it's own glutinous quality. . It is a marine plant, and is not uncommon about our own iJwrcs. I have met with it very frequently about the IOand of Sheppey, and once on the Bognor Rocks in Sulfex. It has been defcribed by fome of the botanical writers under th<.: name of a Conf<.:rva, and, by others, under that of a Coralline. Dillenius calls it Cunferva marina gelatinota, corallin<E infiar geniculata, craffior ; and Kempfer, Mufcus marinus, corallin~ fimilis, multifidus, folio tenuiffimo. 4· Collefl)a |
