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F u s id iu m a ; r u g ¡ n o s u r a , Link, in Berl. Mag. v . 3 . p . 8 . ?— Gray’s Nat. Arr.
V. 1. p. 544. ?
H ab. On dead leaves of the Oak, Beech, Spanish Chesnut, &c. Winter and
spring, About Edinburgh.
Thallus p lane, effused, 1-5 lines broad or more, very irreg u la r, less compact
th a n th e preceding, o f a fine yellow or greenish-yellow colour. Filaments
short, somewhat entangled. Sporidia fusiform, scattered, p e llu c id ,
n o t divided.
The two plants here described, are so similar in almost
every respect except colour, that they might reasonably he considered
as varieties of the same species, were not colour an object
of primary importance in individuals of so simple an organization.
In the present instance, that character is very striking.
I t does, indeed, seem to appear, that Nature bestows on
the lower vegetable forms of her kingdom more permanently
constant hues, as some compensation for the humble station
assigned to them,—or, what amounts to the same thing, that
their chemical constitution is such as to admit at the. same time
of an endless variety of tints, and of those tints being preserved
so faithfully, as to admit of their forming excellent specific
characters.
I t is difficult to conceive how Mr G u a y could have fallen
into the radical error of placing Fusidium under Stilbospori-
dece, with the character of Sporidia many-celled.
I do not concur with the acute L i n k in excluding this genus
from the Byssoidece, as filaments are distinctly visible
even under a pocket lens.
Fig. 2. a, Fusidium flavo-virens, nat. size, b. Filaments and Sporidia, magni-
fied.
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