Algae / Algas

In Madeira, Porto Santo, and Desertas, 373 species of algae have been found so far, of which 211 belong to the group of Diatoms. Of the remaining 162 species, 127 are marine and 35 live in streams, tanks, humid places, and levadas, with many of them known only by the names of their genera. Enteromorpha compressa is extremely common on the rocks uncovered by the low tide, and Ulva Lactuca, Padina Pavonia, Cystoseira ericoides, etc., are also rare in certain points of the coast, covered or bathed by the sea. The large Laminaria saccharina appears near Ponta de S. Lourenço, where the Sargassum bacciferam and two species of the Liagora genus have also been found. Corallina officinalis, Jannia rubens, Gelidium corneum, and other Rodophyceas are not rare in Ponta Delgada and some points on the southern coast. In the streams, levadas, and ponds of Madeira, a species of Oedogonium (perhaps the O. capilliforme) is abundant, and in the humid rocks and near the waterfalls, the globular Nostoc verrucosum is frequent, sometimes associated with Anabaena flos-asquae and other Myxophyceas. The extremely rare Lemanea fluviatilis, a filamentous and coriaceous alga, lives in the Ribeira de João Gomes, under the bridge of Curral dos Romeiros, and the following Desmidiaceas have been found in the nearby ponds: Staurastrum muticum, Cosmarium Botrytis, C. margaritiferum, and Closterium acerosum. In the Seminary museum, there is a collection of marine algae, identified by Professor Schmitz of the University of Greifswalde, and Rev. Schodduyn of Pas de Calais identified several freshwater algae sent to him by the author of these lines.