The order is distinguished by the crustaceous thallus, bright-green
gonidia and simple fruits. There are seven British genera
Gonidia not present in hymenium.
Paraphyses disappearing.
Spores simple............................ 105. V e rru c a ria .
Spores 1-3-septate.................... 106. T h e lid ium .
Spores muriform .................... 107. P o ly b la s tia .
Paraphyses persistent.
Spores simple 108. T h rom b ium .
Spores m u lti-sep ta te ................ 109. Gongylia.
Spores muriform .................... 110. Microglsena.
Gonidia present in hymenium.
Spores muriform .................... 111. S tau ro th e le .
105. VERRUCARIA Pers. in Ust. Ann. Bot. vii. p. 23 (1794)
pro parte (non Web. nec Humb.), emend. Th. Fr. Lich. Arct.
p. 267 (1860).—Litliocia S. F. Gray Nat. Arr. i. p. 497 (1821)
pro parte. (PL 4L)
Thallus crustaceous, continuous, areolate or pulverulent, sometimes
developed within the substratum. Algal cells Pleurococcus
or Palmella. Perithecia immersed in the thallus or superficial,
the outer wall of a carbonaceous or horny structure completely
surrounding the perithecium (entire) or developed only over the
upper p a rt (dimidiate), opening above by a pore or slit (ostiole) ;
paraphyses soon becoming mucilaginous and disappearing ;
filaments within the ostiole (peripliyses) well developed ; asci
8-spored ; spores ellipsoid or subglobose, colourless, rarely brown.
The Vei'rucaria of early authors was based on characters th a t
belong to widely different Lichens. Persoon first defined the genus as
possessing subglobose fruits ; Th. Fries restricted it to those species
with simple usually colourless spores and with paraphyses more or
less dissolved in mucilage. In some species the dark outer peritheciai
wall is strongly developed only over the upper half of the fruits and
spreads out at the base, a colourless or brownish layer of cells called
the inner wall or tunic being continued under the base ; this character
is considered by some lichenologists to have generic value—Litliocia
S. F. Gray, Lithoicea Massal. Mem. Lioh. p. 141 (1858).
Maritime species growing within reach o f waves or spray from the
sea ; thallus more or less gelatinous when moist.
1. V. maura Wahlenb. in Ach. Meth. Suppl. p. 19 (1803).—
Thallus black or dark-reddish or brownish-black, thickish, or
thin, smooth or subgelatinous, shining or occasionally somewhat
scabrid, cracked into minute areolæ. Perithecia moderate in
size, hemispherical, scattered, immersed in the thallus, the ostiole
more or less visible ; peritheciai wall dimidiate and spreading a t
the base, a thin black layer being continued under the base ;
spores ellipsoid, 0,012-17 mm. long, 0,007-8 mm. thick, sometimes
rather larger ; hymenial gelatine wine-red with iodine.—
Hook. PI. Scot. ii. p. 43 & in Sm, Engl. F], v. p. 154; Grev. Fl.
Edin. p. 353 ; Tayl. in Mackay PI. Hib. ii. p. 93 ; Leight. Angioc.
Lich. p. 59, t. 25, f. 3 & Lich. Fl. p. 419 ; ed. 3, p. 449 ; Mudd
Man. p. 284 ; Cromb. Lich. Brit. p. 113. V. aractina Wahlenb.
tom. cit. p. 17 ; Cromb. I. c. (fide Leighton Lich. Fl. p. 419).
V. aspera Tayl. in Hook. Lond. Journ. Bot. vi. p. 153 (1847) ?
Lichen maurus Sm. Engl. Bot. t. 2456 (1812). Litliocia maura
S. P. Gray Nat. Arr. i. p. 498 (1821).
Exsicc. Leight. n. 33 pro parte.
Easily distinguished by the maritime habitat and by the well-
developed pobshed-looking cracked th a llu s ; the minute areolas are
slightly raised at the margin.
Hab. On maritime rooks.—Distr. Somewhat common on the
coast of the British Isles.—B. M. S a rk ; Gerrans, Cornwall; Torquay,
Devon ; Shoreham, Sussex; Manorbeer near Tenby, Pembrokeshire ;
Harlech Castle, Merioneth; Pwllheli, Deganwy and Conway Bay,
Carnarvonshire; near Dunbar, Haddingtonshire; Fifeshire ; Wills’
Braes, Forfarshire; Portlethen, Kincardineshire; Dunkerron and
Kenmare Eiver, Kerry.
Var. memnonia Koerb. Syst. Lich. Germ. p. 340 (1855) e
descript. ; Wedcl. in Mem. Soc. Sci. Nat. Cherb. xix. p. 301 (1875).
—Thallus thin, effuse, gelatinous, brownish-black with a light-
coloured hypotballus, cracked in places when dry, bu t not
areolate. Perithecia scarce, immersed in a swelling of the
thallus ; spores varying in size, ellipsoid, 0,012-20 mm. long,
0,005-7 mm. thick, or 0,010-15 mm. long, 0,007-9 mm. thick,
sometimes almost round.— V. memnonia Flot. ex Koerb. I. c.
Eegarded as a variety by authors, but almost specifically distmct
owing to the continuous thallus, the superficial cracks being due
entirely to shrinking and occurring only on portions of the thallus.
I t is traversed in places by the greyish lines of the hypotballus.
Hab. On maritime rooks and growing nearer the sea th an the
species.—B. M. Jerbourg, Guernsey.
2. V. mucosa Wahlenb. in Ach. Meth. Suppl. p. 23 (1803).—
Thallus olivaceous or dark-greenish, smooth, gelatinous, opaque,
continuous, th in or sometimes ra th e r thick. Perithecia minute,
immersed and scarcely visible above the th a llu s ; peritheciai wall
dimidiate or almost entire ; spores small, ellipsoid, colourless,
0,007-10 mm. long, 0,005-6 mm. thick or ra th e r larger.—Carroll
in Journ. Bot. iii. p. 292 (1865); Cromb. Lich. Brit. p. 113;
Leight. Lich. Fl. p. 413; ed. 3, p. 444. F. microsporoides Nyl.
in Bull. Soc. Bot. France viii. p. 759 (1861) ; Carroll in tom.
cit. p. 293; Cromb. Lich. Brit. p. 114; Leight. Lich. Fl. p. 414 ;
ed. 3, p. 445.
Exsicc. Larb. Lich. Hb. n. 278.
In the British specimens the spores are slightly narrower th an the
size given by Th. Fries in Lich. Arct. p. 269, measuring generally
about 0,004 mm. in thickness. Weddell (Mem. Soc. Sci. Nat. Cherb.