L I C H E N oclobuliferus.
Vesicle-sh ic Icled L ich e n.
CRYPTOGAMIA Alga.
G en. Char. Male, scattered warts.
Female, smooth shields or tubercles, in which the
seeds are imbedded.
Spec. Char. Crust spreading, faintly bordered, rugged,
greyish, with white powdery warts. Shields spherical,
closed ; at length bursting, with a thin ragged
border, and blackish disk.
Syn. Variolaria globulifera. Turn. T r. o f L . Soc.
v. 9. 139. t. 1 0 ./. 9.
DISCOVERED on the trunks of beeches and oaks in Sussex,
but rarely, by Mr. W. Borrer, by whom we were favoured
with specimens in 1802 ; hut we would not anticipate our
friend Mr. Turner, who had undertaken to describe this with
other new British Lichens, in a paper for the Linnsean Society,
now published in the 9th volume of its Transactions.
This species is nearly akin to L.J'agineus, t. 1713, and
discoideus, t. 1714, with both which its crust agrees in appearance,
but with the latter only in insipidity, wanting the
bitter flavour oifaginevs first remarked by Mr. Borrer. Besides
numerous white powdery prominences, the crust bears
here and there a few'globular vesicles, depressed at the top,
of the size of small peas, or vetch seeds, rather paler than the
crust, whose upper part at length bursts, and the thin torn
cover becomes an upright circular margin to the real disk of
the shield, then 'disclosed, which is flat, greenish-black,
occupying the^bottom of the vesicle, and contains seeds
lodged in parallel vertical cells like those of other Lichens.
We readily assent to Mr. Borrer’s idea, that the powdery
tubercles of L . fagineus, &c. are probably assemblages of
gewmce rather than of true seeds, being analogous to viviparous
flowers; see t. 669 and 1355.
200$
2/Lar x xSfffi FubUrki. by Jos* Smverby X onion. ^