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This small genus is distinguished from other friiticuU se lichens by the
tballus and apothecia. The fructification, Ibougb at first apparently
pyrenocarpoid, is at length entirely as in this series. The blac i powder
oi the spores is easily rubbed oft', so th at it is sometimes not visible in
herbaria specimens.
1. S. compressus Ach. Meth. (1803) p. 135.— Thallus fru ticuloso,
erect, irregularly branched, whitish ( K m e d u l l a I - ) ;
branches short, compressed, much divided, naked or more or less
laterally and minutely fibrillose. Apothecia moderate, oblique,
globoso-depressed; th e receptacle lacoro-dehiscont, or a t length
discoid and open ; spores spherical, 0,0 0 7 -1 1 mm. in diameter.—
Hook. Fl. Scot. ii. p. 6 7 ; Sm. Eng. F l. y. p. 2 3 2 ; Gray, Nat. Arr.
1. p. 487 ; Turn. & Borr. Lich. Br. p. 1 1 5 ; Aludd, Alan. p. 2 6 4 ;
Cromb. Lich. Brit. p. 1 5 ; Leight. Lioh. F l. p. 49, ed. 3, p. 48.—
Lichen fi-agilis Huds. F l. Angl. i. p. 460 pro pa rte ; Lightf. Fl. Soot,
ii. p. 888 pro min. p a rte ; Eng. Bot, t. 114. Coralloides alpinum
corallincB minoris facie Dill. AIusc. 116, t. 17. f. 34 c. Lichenoides
non tuhidosum, ramulis nigris scutellis terminatis Dill, in Bay Syn.
ed. 3, 66. 13.— B rit. E x s. : Mudd, n. 2 6 4 ; Larb. Lich. Hb. n. 2 0 5 ;
Dicks. H o rt. Sio. n. 23.
Tliis, as observed by Turner and Borrer (I c.), “ is a singularly elegant
and beautiful lichen in point both of shape and of colour, especially in its
fertile state, when the striking whiteness of the thallus is relieved by the
jetty black of the large open cistul».” In moist places the main branches
are occasioually of a glaucous colour, and rarely, as stated by Lightfoot
I. c., “ tinged with a bright-red colour ” (becoming, however, darker
when dry), “ so as to resemble very strongly Corallina rubens Linn.”
The compressed and normally whitish thallus and the oblique discoid
apothecia distinguish it from' the following species. The apotbecia are
but sparingly seen in British specimens, and the spermogones are seldom
present. They are tuberculose and brownish-black, situated on the main
branches, or more rarely on the apices of the tibrill®, with spermatia
ellipsoid, 0,003 mm. long, 0,001 mm. thick.
Ilah. On rocks and boulders in shady places in upland tracts.—Distr.
General, though not common, in Great'Britain; rarer in AV. Ireland and
tlie Channel Islands.—B. AI.: Island of Guernsey. Tunbridge AVells,
Kent; Ardingly, Sussex ; Dartmoor, Devonshire; ‘ Oromford Aloor, near
Alatlock, Derbyshire; Craigforda, near Oswestry, Shropshire ; Aberdovey
and Cwm Bychan, Alerionethshire ; Farndale, Yorksliire ; Teesdale, Durham
; AVark, Nortlmmberlaud. New Galloway, Kirkcudbrightshire;
Peutland Hills, near Edinburgh ; Barcaldine, Lome, Argyleshire ; the
Trossacbs aud Loch Tay, Perthshire; Clova Alts., Forfarshire ; Coimtess-
wells Wood, near Aberdeen ; Lochaber, Inverness-sbire. Turk Alt. and
Cromaglown, co. Kerry ; Connemara, co. Galway.
2. S. co rallo id e s Pers.Ust. Ann. i. (1 7 9 4 )p .2 3 .—Thallus unequally
and somewhat loosely branched, suberect or ascending, greyish-
white or reddish-brown (K - , medulla I -|- b lu ish ); branches rounded,
numerous, ra th e r short, w ith compound late ra l tibrill®. Apothecia
globose, moderate, the receptacle persistent, semi-globose and irre gularly
dehiscent above ; spores spherical, 0 ,0 0 9 -1 6 mm. iu dia meter.—
Hook. Fl. Scot. ii. p. 67 ; Gray, Nat. Arr. i. p. 487 ; Leight.
Br. Aiigi. Lich. 7, t. i. f. 1 ; Lich. F l. p. 47, ed. 3, p. 48 ; Aludd,
Alan. p. 264, t. v. f. 109 ; Cromb. Lich. Brit. p. 15.— Sphoerophoron
coralloides a. laxum Sm. Eng. El. v. p. 232. Lichen gh h ife ru s Lightf.
El. Scot. ii. p. 887 ; Eng, Bot. t. 115 ; With. Arr. ed. 3, iv. p. 40.
Lichen globosus Huds. Fl. Angl. i. p. 460. Coralloides cupressiforme
eapitulis glohosis Dill. AIuso. p. 117, t. 17. f. 35. Lichenoides non
tubulosum ramosissimum, frn tic u li specie einereo-fuscum Dill, in Kay,
Syn. cd. 3, 65. 9.—Lichen glohiferus Linn. Alant. (1767) p. 133 is
a prior name, b u t being merely th e Latin equivalent of Sphoerophorus
cannot be retained, n or th e still older name— Lichen globosus Huds.
—B rit. Exs. : Mudd, n. 253 ; Leight. n. 316 ; Bohl. n. 5.
Notwithstanding the specific name, this plant is not nearly so “ coral-
liuoid ” as the preceding, from which it is distinguished by the rounded
and laxly branched tliallus, the shorter branches, and the persistent sub-
globose receptacle of the apotbecia. I t occurs in extensive patches,
varying in colour from glaucous in sbady to brownish or even reddish in
exposed habitats, the branches being somewhat shining in theupperportion,
and the larger ones more or less indistinctly articulate. The apothecia
.are chiefly on the main branches, aud remain closed for a considerable
time. Our figure (p. 103) illustrates their structure ; a is a section of the
thalline receptacle with an apothecium. In the receptacle is an external
pale stratum—the C(,rte.r. In the apothecium there is (1) the columellar
brown kijpothecium, which is blackish above ; (2) a bluish-wbite stratum,
which is the hymeuium ; and (8) a very thick external black stratum,
whioh is the mazædium. The spermogones are terminal either on the
sterile branches or on the fibrillæ, and are similar to those of S. com-
is, though more frequent.
Hab. On rocks and boulders, rarely on the mossy roots of trees, from
maritime to alpine regions.—Disir. General and common m tb e hilly and
mountainous tracts of Great Britain and Ireland, rarer m the Lhaiiiiei
Islands,—B. AI.: Islands of .lersey and Guernsey. luubridge W ells,
Kent; Ardingly, Sussex; Vixen Tor, Lustleigh Cleeve, and Hay lo r,
Dartmoor, Devonshire ; between Arthur’s bed and AA’rmg Cheese, near
Penzance, and Helmiuton, Cornwall; Buekstone, near Alonnioutli; Cbain-
wood Forest, Leicestershire; Alalvern Hills, Worcestershire; Cromiord
Aloor, near Alatlock, Derbyshire ; Caer Caradoc and Pentregaer Oswestry,
Salop; Llanberis and Conway Falls, Carnarvonshire; Cader Idris. Cwm
Bvchan, and Aberdovey, Alerionetbsbire; Island of Anglesea; Kildale
Aloor Cleveland, Yorkshire ; Teesdale, and Eglestone, Durham ; Kent-
mere, AVestmoreland ; the Cheviots, Nortbumberland. New Galliway,
Kirkcudbrightshire; Pentland Hills and Dalmahoy Hill, n<rar Fdm-
burgh ; Inverary and Loch Creran, Argyleshire; the Tiossachs, Craig Cal-
liaeii.Ben Lawers, Falls of Bruar, and near Loch Encht, Perthshire;
Reeky Linn and Clova, Forfarsliire; bills at Nigg, Kmcardiuesbire;
Craig Coinnoch and Lochnagar, B r a e m a r , Aberdeenshire ; Glen JNevis,
Inverness-shire; near Forres, Elginshire; near Lairg, Sutherlandshire.
Devis Alt., CO. Antrim ; Killarney, co. Kerry ; Connemara, co. Galway.
Form co n g estn s Lamy, Bull. Soc. Bot. F r. xxv. (1878) p. 349.
Thallus small, firm, tho branches short, erect, densely aggregate.—
Cromb. Grevillea, xv. p. 15.