Argyll; Kenmore, Perthshire ; Tullagreen and near Rostellan, Cork ;
Little Island and Dinish, Killarney, Kerry ; Westport, Mayo ; Adare,
Limerick ; Letterfrack, Connemara, Galway.
Form laurocerasi A. L. Sm.—Thallus crowdedly rimulose or
subleprose, whitish. Apothecia convex, reddish-brown or partly
paler, immarginate, whitish within ; spores 0,053-95 mm. long,
0,0040-45 mm. thick.— Fatellaria laurocerasi Duby in DO. Bot.
Gall. p. 653 (1830). Lecidea endoleuca f. laurocerasi Nyl. in
Flora xlvii. p. 620 (1864); Cromb. Lich. Brit. p. 74.
Perhaps rather a state than a distinct form, differing in the lighter-
coloured apothecia, which are rather scattered in the two British
specimens, and are obtusely margined only in a very young condition.
Hab. On ash and elm in maritime and upland districts.—Distr,
Eare in S. England and the Channel Islands.—B. M. Quenvais,
Jersey; near Lyndhurst, New Forest, Hants.
25. B. umbrina Branth & Rostr. in Bot. Tidsskr. iii. p. 235
(1869).— Thallus subeffuse, thin, granulose-leprose or subareolate,
dark-greyish, dark-green, blackish or yellowish (K —, CaCl — ),
sometimes subobsolete. Apothecia small, sessile, plane and
thinly margined, a t length convex, immarginate, brownish or
blackish; hypothecium colourless; paraphyses coherent, olive-
hrown or dark-greenish-blue a t the apices ; spores vermiform-
cylindrical, spirally curved, 3-5-iDluri-septate, 0,020-40 mm. long,
0,0025-35 mm. th ic k ; hymenial gelatine bluish then wine-red
or violet with iodine.—Lecidea umbrina Ach. Lich. Univ. p. 183
(1810); Carroll in Journ. Bot. v. p. 255 (1867); Leight. Lich.
FI. ed. 3, p. 359 ; f. vermifera Nyl. Lich. Scand. p. 209 (1861).
L. pelidna Ach. I. c. p. 158; Cromb. Lich. Brit. p. 74; Leight.
Lich. FI. p. 344. L. Iwlomelsena Floerke ex Spreng. Syst. Veg.
iv. p. 256 (1827) pro parte. L. holomelsena subsp. vermifera
Cromb. Lich. Brit. p. 91 (1871). Scoliciosporum vermiferum
Mudd Man. p. 185 (1861).
Exsicc. Leight. n. 158 (as Lecidea vermifera)] Mudd n. 153 ;
Johns, n. 342.
Easily recognized by the spirally-curved spores, which are usually
pluriseptate, though sometimes apparently simple. The thallus
covers the substratum with a thin minutely broken crust. The
apothecia are numerous. Leighton’s f. leptoviera (1. c.) {Lecidea
leptomera Sommerf. Suppl. El. Lapp. p. 161 (1826)) has a somewhat
lighter thallus. Crombie cites as Lecidea hulomeUma, Biatora
holomekcna Hepp (Flecht. Bur. n. 12 (1853) ), a species that from its
two-celled spores belongs to the genus Biatorina.
Hab. On rooks and stones, more rarely on old palings.—Distr.
General and common throughout the British Isles.—B. M. Boulay
Bay, Jersey; Launceston, Cornwall; Shoreham, Shermanbury and
Wisborough Green, Sussex; Barmouth, Merioneth; near Oswestry,
Sutton, near Shrewsbury, Sliperstones and Lyth Hill, Shropshire ;
Malvern, Worcestershire ; Trefriw, Carnarvonshire ; Buxton, Derbyshire
; near Easby, Cleveland, Yorkshire; High Force, Teesdale,
Durham ; near Portlethen, Kincardineshire ; Canlochan, Forfarshire ;
Ben Lawers, Glen Fender and Craig Tulloch, Blair Athole, Perthshire
; Upper Glen Dee, Braemar, Aberdeenshire; Glen Nevis,
Lochaber, Invernessshire ; near Macroom, Cork ; Blaokwater Bridge,
Kerry ; Kilree and Moher, Clare; Kylemore, Connemara, Galway.
Yar. turgida Th. Fr. Lich. Scand. p. 365 (1874).—Thallus
thin, effuse, crustaceous, minutely granular, light- or dark-greenish-
brown. Apothecia small, numerous, paler th an in the species ;
paraphyses paler a t the tips.—Scoliciosporum turgidum Koerb.
Parerg. Lich. p. 241 (1861). Lecidea pelidna var. turgida
Cromb. Lich. p. 74(1870); Leight. Lich. PL p. 345. L. pelidniza
Nyl. in Flora Ivii. p. 318 (1874). L. umbrina f. turgida Leight.
Lich. FI. ed. 3, p. 360 (1879); f. pelidniza Leight. I. c.
Exsicc. Larb. Lich. Hb. n. 182.
Distinguished by the lighter-coloured thallus and apothecia.
Hab. On rooks.—Distr. Eare in maritime or upland districts in
S. and Central England, Wales, the N. Grampians, Scotland and
W. Ireland.—B. M. Near Penzance, Cornwall ; Dolgelly, Merioneth ;
Snowdon, Carnarvonshire; Glen Callater, Braemar, Aberdeenshire ;
Kilkee, Clare; Kylemore and Twelve Pins, Connemara, Galway.
Var. compacta Th. Fr. I. c.—Thallus dark-brown, almost
black, thickish. Apothecia very d a rk ; paraphyses dark-bluish-
green towards the apices.—Scoliciosporum compactum Koerb. Syst.
Lich. Germ. p. 268 (1855). L. umbrina f. compacta Leight. Lich.
FI. ed. 3, p. 360 (1879).
Hab. On rooks and walls.—Distr. Not unfrequent in England and
Wales, rare in the S. Grampians, Scotland and W. Ireland.—B. M.
Axe Edge, near Buxton, Derbyshire; Dolgelly, Merioneth; Ben
Lawers, Perthshire; near Kylemore, Connemara, Galway.
26. B. ascaridiella A. L. Sm.—Thallus determinate, thin,
opaque, rimulose, whitish (K —, CaCl — ). Apothecia very minute,
innate, blackish, colourless within, often with a pseudothalline
crenulate m a rg in ; epithecium slightly brownish ; hypothecium
colourless; paraphyses very slender, not crowded; spores 8,
16 or 32 in the ascus, vermiform, acute a t the apices, spirally-
curved, pluriseptate, 0,025-30 mm. long, 0,0015-20 mm. th ic k ;
hymenial gelatine scarcely tinged with iodine.—Lecidea ascaridiella
Nyl. in. Flora li. p. 162 (1868) ; Carroll in Journ. Bot. vi.
p. 100 (1868) ; Leight. in Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, i. p. 483
(1868) & Lich. FI. p. 355 ; ed. 3, p. 383 ; Cromb. Lich. Brit,
p. 75.
A very minute species, placed by Nylander near to Lecidea
leucaspis, a continental species. Examination shows that it is closely
allied to the preceding; the spores are septate, not simple as
origmally described. The small specimen seen is well fertile.
Hah. On a calcareous rook in an upland mountainous district.—
B. M. Mangerton, Killarney, Kerry.
M 2