e. THE % eer ~ CHARACER OF AMERICA. BY TIMOTHY F. ALLEN. A.M, M.D. WITH COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR. agus hee 3 : lege BOSTON: ; on oO. Ear CASSINO, PUBLISHER, est : No, 299 WASHINGTON STREET. Wan X 20 ws c X 20 Drawn by TE Allen M.D. Armstrong & Co. Lith. CHARA CORONATA, A.Br. Plate I Var SCHWEINITZIZ ~~ | ne, \ /, ah i Ww” o J | ie Drawn by TE Allen M.D. Armstrong & Co. Lith. Plate IL CHARA CRINITA, Wate. VAR. AMERICANA . Drawn by TE Allen M.D. Armstrong & Co, Lith. CHARA GYMNOPUS, A.Br. Plate it i VAR .ELEGANS. a2) 442 bat en ei Saat LOAVGR’ MAD CCieK, aye | i- . Lay ; 7 . wiranone . cele Ve f yore? oe an gine ’ 3 froin. the opp NWOSL,, OF at pnthcridiane war a corresponding edhe eae ORY ae ! ro ae Cea : nfernode of — the <1 Take, | OR “es es . j Pi 3, a . Angle LJ 5 - 7 Pr iamncdes * triple-corticatesd. bs ae é at . Lo i BE F ee See 4 7 4 by ne. Species ¢. be flerony nodes payne. 7 ta : YMROPL same Teal; ~ peat mee and STAHC SI rt 1 dope ony s+ ke? baaal im ATS re (Vary short ; aX Sot t | Per ong in Che. Ange A ; oe Pinternodes; amdul naked tarmjial jvtgraodes, deyeiggete ‘ : hor ca re: crn ‘Vent. pt aud bit few furcta of thee Cr imeaiingder thet” : nbeeste? easy ‘ it it bess Me. mec’ shary te de AST \ ‘ +o aighte “ti, 9 von he 8 ; . er nits atieries of I pce : : che rmafas viteird, Kien atid Wilin is-2he oldesisranmic.” . ial Prate I. CHARA GYMNOPUS, A. Br. Var. elegans, A. Br. Sub-order, Cuare. Verticills of leaves mostly surrounded by a whirl of stipules. Leaves many-celled, with bract-bearing nodes. Bracts one-celled, shorter than the leaf. Antheridium lateral occupying the place of a bract, on the inner (ventral) aspect of the leaf, usually single. Sporangium on ventral aspect of leaf. Coronula of sporangium consisting of a single series of five cells, persistent. Genus, CHAKA. Sporangium arising from the uppermost cell of the basilar node of an antheridium or a corresponding bract, hence axillary. * DreLostepHan&. Whirl of stipules developed from a double series of cells, stem always corticated ; leaves usually so. ** Perrect&. Cortex uniformly developed around the stem; the series of cells approximate leaving no interspaces. * * * GyMNOPODES. First basal internode of the leaf naked, not corticated ; other internodes triple-corticated. ** * * Monacca. Antheridia and sporangia borne on the same leaf ; in one species (seyuzcta) on different nodes. CuHarA Gymnopus. This species has been established, by the late Prof. Braun, to include a large number of closely related forms from all parts of the world; and we are inclined to extend it so as to embrace all the moncecious Gymnopode. The variation in size of plant, size and shape of sporangium, development of bracts, length of the naked basal internode (very short in some American varieties, var. Humboldtii, etc.; very long in Ch. -Angolensis A.Br., and in Ch. Robbinsit. Halsted), number of corticated internodes, and of naked terminal internodes, development of the coronula, etc., is very great, and no satisfactory line can be drawn. Prof. Braun remarks in Characee Africane “ So long as I knew but fewforms of the Gywopoda, their distinction seemed easy ; but when it became necessary to determine sixteen to eighteen forms, I concluded to consider them all varieties of a single species, for which Gymnopus seemed the most fitting, though Cey/onica, Klein and Willd., is the oldest name.” 2 CHARACE -AMERICANE. ““Tenuiter incrustata, luteo-virens. Caulis aculeolis sparsis elongatis acuminatis oblique patentibus obsitus. Folia vert. g-10. Corona stipularis sursum et deorsum evoluta, cellulis elongatis seriei superioris articulum foliorum infimum vix ad medium usque tegentibus. Articuli foliorum 8-g, infimo ecorticato hyalino sequentibus breviore diametro triplo- ad quadruplo-longiore, mediis 4-5 (rarius paucioribus) corticatis, superioribus 3-5 ecorticatis, ultimo brevissimo excepto, elongatis. Foliola omnium geniculorum evoluta, verticillata posteriora dimidio vel-ultra breviora, anteriora sporangium paullo superantia. Sporangium oblongum, coronula brevi quinquedentata, nucleo (indumento calcareo’ dissoluto) atro 11-12—-striato” A. Lraun, Ch. Africane. Var, ©LEGANS, A.Br., in litt. Stems large with long spines, regularly disposed. Verticills numerous, approximate above. Leaves g-12 in a verticill, with 7-9 articulations ; basal internode naked, about twice as long as broad; upper internodes triple-corticated, except the terminal internode (rarely two or even three of the upper internodes naked). Stipules long and narrow, reaching nearly to the second articulation, the reflexed stipules nearly as long as the erect. Bracts developed at each articulation, verticillate, the dorsal scarcely shorter than the ventral, usually much longer than the sporangium and exceeding the length of the internode. Sporangium oblong, .60-.75 m.m. long, .4o-.50 m.m. broad. Coronula large, spreading. Nucleus oval, black, about r2-striate on one side (impress of the enveloping tubes of the sporangium). This beautiful species is not uncommon, new localities frequently coming to our notice: Peekskill, N. Y.; Lakeville, Conn.; Essex_Co., Mass. (Oakes, Mr. John Robinson), etc. A number of varieties of Ch. gymnopus occur in different parts of the country which might be confounded with var. edegans. The following may be mentioned in this place; tater they will be described in detail and figured. Var. Humboldtii, A.Br. (Plante. Lindheimeriane, Gray and Engelmann, p. 56), C. compressa, Wunth.; C. foliolosa, Willd. (Mihlenb., cat. pl. Amer., sept.: figured in Kiitzing, tab. phye. VII, t. 77 (vot a good figure, A.Br.), reported from Venezuela, Mexico, Texas (Wright and Lindheimer), and from, Pennsylvania (Miihlenburg).