f i • ■ j
k 'i
ip!;
'¿ f i'} .
POLYSTIGMA r u b b dm .
Red Polystigma.
C l a s s a n d O r d e r CRYPTOGAMIA FUNGI, Tiim.—N a t . O r d . HYPOXYLA,
De Cand. Grev.
GENERIC CHARACTER.
Receptaculum tenue carnosum ( aurantiacum) epiphyllum punctatum. Sphoerulæ
immersoe minutoe. '
Receptacle thin, carnose (orange), epiphyUous, clotted. Spherules innnersed,
minute.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER.
P o l y s t i g m a rubrum -, planum, auraniiaco-ruhrum; sporulæ inoequales glohosæ.
P. plane, orange-red ; sporules unequal, globose.
P o l y s t i g m a r u b r u m , Pers. in Moug. et Nestl. St. Crypt. Vog. N o . 2 7 0 .—De
Cand. Fl. Franç. v . 5. p . l 6 4 .— Crev. Fl. Fdin. p . 363.
X y l o m a r u b r u m , Pers. Obs. Mycol. 2 . p . 1 0 1 .—Fjusd. Syn. Fung. p . 1 0 5—
Alb. et Schmein. p . 6 4— De Cand. Fl. Franç. ed. 3. v. 2 . p . 599.—Fjusd.
Syn. p . 6 3 .—Purt. Midi. Fl. v . S . p . 3 1 6 . t . S3.—Hook. Fl. Scot. 2 . p . 9 .
H a e . On the upper surface of the leaves of the Sloe-tree (Prunus spinosa).-
Summer and autumn ; not unfrequent.
Commencing at first by a yellow or orange discoloration in the leaf, which
gradually thickens and becomes more defined; at the same time darker
in colour, and exhibiting numerous minute dots dispersed over the surface.
When mature, the plant is of various sizes, from 1-6 lines in diameter,
of a deep orange-red, and thin carnose substance ; generally of a
roundish or oblong fo;m,.but in this respect extremely variable. The
dots on the surface are visible to the naked eye, and mark the situation
of the concealed spherules, whose orifice, however, under the microscope,
has escaped my observation. These spherules lie in the very substance
o f the leaf, which is converted by a thorough change in its nature into a
receptacle ; this is very remarkably obvious in a transverse section or
shce, as given at Fig. 4. in the plate. Sporules naked, of different sizes, .
globular, fine orange.
This is an interesting plant, and not without considerable
claims to beauty; for these inferior vegetables have degrees of
VOL. II.