Ii
S PE C IF IC CHARACTER.
H y p o x y lo n c le u s tum ; effusum, crassum, undulato-ntgosum, junior cinereo-
albidum, ptdverulentum, dein rigidum, fusco-nigrum, peritheciis ovaiis immersis.
H. effused, thick, uneven and rugose ; when young greyish-white and pulverulent,
at length rigid, brown-black, the perithecia ovate, immersed.
H y p o x y l o n ustulatum. B u ll p. 176. t. 487- f. 1.
S p h æ r i a d e iis tum , Hoffm. Veg. Crypt. 1. p. 3. t. 1. f. 9— Pers. Obs. Myc.
p. ig .—Syn. Fung. p. 16.—Alb. et Schwein. p. 6.—Schum, FI. Soell. v. 9.
p. 163— DeCand. FI. Franç. v. 9. p. 985.—Nees, Syst. t. 41. f. 316.__
Schwein. Fung. Carol No. 27— Hook. F I Scot. Pt. 2. p. 5.—Moug. et
Ne stl Stirp. Exsicc. No. 276.—Fries, Scler. Suec. No. 261.—Ejusd. Syst.
Mycol V. 2. p. 345.
S p h æ r ia albo-deusta, Wahl. F I Lapp. ed. 2. p. 1001.
S p h æ r i a m a x im a , Web. Spicill. F I Goett. p . 2 8 6 .—Bolt. Fung. t. 181. Sow.
Fung. t. 338.— With. Bot. Arr. v. 4. p. 467.-B.elh. F I Cantab, p. 570.
S p h æ r i a v e rs ip e llis , Tode, Fung. 9- p . 55. t. 17. f. 129.
H a b . On the stumps and trunks of trees, generally near to the ground,
spring to autumn, frequent.
Plant from 1 to 6 inches in breadth, two to many lines in thickness, very
irregular in shape, effused, undulated and rugose. When young whitish
or greyish, and coriaceous, the surface pulverulent: afterwards brownish
or blackish, dotted with the little prominent orifices of the perithecia,
very brittle, dry and hard, with the appearance of having been
scorched. Interior white, especially towards the surface. Perithecia
ovate. Asci linear-clavate. Sporidia shortly fusiform, opake, with two
or three divisions.
A large species, creeping in its early and yielding state
over the sticks and moss lying in its way, and afterwards hardening
into a dry and most irregular mass. In America, it
grows to a large size, according to S c h w e i n i t z .
Fig. 2. a, H. deustuni. b, A section o f ditto, natorsd Aze. c. Portion o f the
stroma, with perithecia, d, Asci and sporidia ; magnified.