whicli at length i'oriiis an evanescent margin. All the species are normally
terricole, the thaUus being closely adnate to the ground. With the exception
of S. octospora, all the
European species have been
found iu liritain.
1. S. crocea Ach. Lioh.
Univ. (1810) p. 149.—
Thallus orbicular, thickish,
appressed, more or less
smooth, laciniato - lobed,
undulate a t th e margin,
dark-greenish when moist,
reddish- or cinnamon-
greyish when dry ; beu
eath (as also the medulla)
dee]) orange- or saffron-
onloured, villoso - nervose,
indistinctly subrhiziuose.
Apotheoia m oderate, plane,
rotundate or oblong, tumid,
dark brownish-red ; spores
6-8na3, oblong or fusiformi
- oblong, brownish,
0 ,0 3 5 -4 5 mm. long, 0 ,0 1 0 - Eig. 49.
12 mm.. • thicik.A.A— GTTra y,1 N-amt . h. Theca and paraphysis, x360. c. Ihree
Arr. 1. p. 429 ; Hook. Fl. ^590.
Scot. ii. p. 36 ; Sm. Eng.
El. V. p. 214 ; Mudd, Man. p. 85 ; Cromb. Liob. B rit. p. 29 ; Leight.
Lich. El. p. 112, ed. 3, p. 106.-—Lichen croceus Linn. Fl. Suec.
(1755) p. 1101 ; Lightf. F l. Scot. ii. p. 856 ; H uds. Fl. Angl. ed. 2,
p. 548 ; With. Arr. ed. 3, iv. p. 68 : Eng. Bot. t. 49. Lichenoides
suhtus croeeum, peltis appressis Dill. Muse. 211, t. 30. f. 120.—
B rit. Exs. : Cromb. n. 46 ; Dicks. Ho rt. Sic. n. 50.
A beautiful plant, readily distiuguish ed by the saffron-colour of the
underside of the thallus, which, even when growing, is generally perceptible
from the margins being more or less subfree and upturned. The
apothecia are at first slightly immersed and rounded, then plane, oblong,
and at length difform and somewhat large. On the thallus is occasionally
seen the parasitic fungus, Sphæria Uchenicola DeNot.
Hah. On the ground, and in fissures of rocks and boulders in alpine
places.—Distr. Rather local and scarce towards the summits of some of
the higher Scottish Grampians, abundant on the top of Ben Lawers ; very
rare on the mts. of S.W. Ireland.—B. M. ; Ben Lomond, Stirlingshire ;
Ben More, Benteskerney and Ben Lawers, Perthshire ; Clov'a Mts., Forfarshire
; Lochnagar, Morrone, Ben-naboord, and Ben Alacdhui, Aberdeenshire
; Ben Nevis, Inverness-shire. Brandon Alts., co. Kerry.
2. S. saccata Aoh. Lich. Univ. (1810) p. 149.—Thallus orbicular,
submembranaoeous, smooth or subsmooth, lobato-divided,
pale-greyish or pale-brownish, occasionally white-pruinose ; beneath
white, spongioso-tomentose, affixed h y lo n g scattered rh izinæ; lobes
rounded, incised, or slightly crenate a t the margins. Apotheoia
uroeolato-depressed, moderate, brown or blackish-brown, immarginate
; spores 4næ, ellipsoid or oblong, reddish-brown, 0 ,0 3 2 -5 0 mm.
long, 0 ,0 1 8 -2 7 mm. t h i c k .- Gray, Nat. Arr. i. p. 429 ; Hook. Fl.
Soot. ii. p. 36 ; Sra. Eng. Fl. v. p. 2 1 4 ; Tayl. in Alack. Fl. Hib. ii.
p. 153 ; Aludd, Alan. p. 85, t. i. f. 24 : Cromb. Enum. p. 29 ; Leight.
Lioh. Fl. p. 112, ed. 3, p. 106.— Lichen saccatus Linn. F l. Sueo. (1755)
p. 1 1 0 2 ; Lightf. F l. Soot. ii. p. 8 5 5 ; Huds. El. Angl. ii. p. 5 4 8 ;
Eng. Bot. t. 288 ; With. Arr. ed. 3, iv. p. 67. Lichenoides liclienis
facie, p e ltis acetahulis immersis Dill. AIuso. 221, t. 30. f. 121.— B rit.
Exs. : Mudd, n. 63 ; Leight. n. I l l ; Cromb. n. 47 ; Bohl. n. 4.
The thallus, wiiich is bright green when moist, becoming in old herbaria
specimens reddish-brown, varies soniewliat in texture according to habitat,
and is sometimes more or less white-pruinose (form pruinosa Fr. Inch.
Eur. p. 49). The saccato-impressed apothecia, which in old plants are
occasionally somewhat large, render this species easily recognized, though
without examination of the spores it might he confounded with S. lispora.
Hah. On the ground and decayed mosses, in crevices of rocks, rarely ou
the mortar of old walls, in moist shady places, in upland and subalçine
districts.—Distr. General, hut not common, chiefiy in AV. and N. England,
N. Wales, and on the Grampians, Scotland; scarce in S.W. and N.
Irelaud. —B. M. ; Cheddar Cliffs, Somersetshire ; near Buxton, Derbyshire
; Apes Tor. Staffordshire ; Whitecliffe Rocks, near Ludlow, Shropshire
; Whernside and Bolton AVoods, Yorkshire ; Cwm Bychan,
Alerionethshire ; Garn, Denbighshire ; Island of Anglesea ; Teesdale,
Durham; Kentmere, Westmoreland; Alston, Cumberland. Head of
Loch Awe and Island of Lismore, Argyleshire ; Killin, Ben Lawers,
Craig Tulloch, Perthshire; Canlocban Glen, Forfarshire; Craig Cluny,
Carr Rocks, and Alorrone, Braemar, Aberdeenshire. ^ Bandon Hill, co.
Kerry ; Ben Bulben, co. Sligo ; near Belfast, co. Antrim.
3. S. spongiosa Nyl. ex Carroll, Jo u rn . Bot. 1865, p. 288.—
Thallus suborbicular, squamulose, dark-green when moist, greyish-
brown when dry ; squamules small, suberect, minutely inoiso-lobed
aud crenate, a t len g th becoming grauulato-orustose. Apotheoia
deeply urceolate, becoming n early plane, dark chestnut-coloured or
almost blackish, bordered ex te rn ally by a th innish, granulate,
thalloid margin ; spores 4næ, ellipsoid, brownish, 0,030 -0,050 mm.
long, 0 ,0 1 8 -0 ,0 2 3 mm. thick.—Cromb. Lioh. Brit. p. 30.— Collema
spongiosum Sm. Eng. El. v. p. 214. Polychidium spongiosum Gray,
Nat. Arr. i. p. 402. Lichen spongiosus Sm. Eng. Bot. 1806, t. 1374.
Solorina limbata (Somm.), Mudd, Man. p. 85 ; Leight. Lioh. Fl.
p. 113, ed. 3, p. 107.
A singular-looking plant, sometimes regarded as a variety of S. saccata,
with which perhaps it is connected hy intermediate states, traces of the
normal thallus being occasionally seen around the apothecia. _ I t differs,
however, from it in the squamulose thallus, and more slightly in the margined
apothecia and the thinner spores. The large and sometimes uumerous
apothecia become nearly plane when old.
Hab. On the ground among rocks, and on turf walls, in upland districts-
— Disfr. Rather local and scarce, chiefly in N. England, among the