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L I C H E N parilis.
Chocolate Reversed Lichen.
î ï
CRYPTOGAMIA Alga.
Gen. Char. Male, scattered warts.
Female, smooth shields or tubercles, in which the
seeds are imbedded.
Spec. Char. Somewhat coriaceous, creeping, lobed,
jagged, crenate and wavy, greenish or purplish
brown, besprinkled with superficial or marginal,
dark, powdery warts. Shields red brown, broader
than long, on the under side o f the shorter lobes
at their ends.
Syn. Lichen parilis. Ach. Prodr. 164.
P e l t i d e a p a r i l i s . Ach. Meth. 2 8 9 .
S E N T b y th e R e v . E . W illiam s from a n old s to n e -q u a rry
in S h ro p sh ire in 1800. W e discovered th e same on th e a lp s
o f Switzerland in 1787, b u t h av e never seen th e shields. H a v in
g tran sm itte d a specimen to Professor A c h a riu s , to in q u ire
w h e th e r it were h is L. parilis, h e answers, “ i t is u n d o u b ted ly
so, a n d c e rta in ly a to ta lly d is tin c t sp e c ie s,” th o u g h mentioned
as d o u b tfu l in h is works. “ I t dies wool b lu e , w h ic h is no t
th e case w ith resupinatus, n o r do th e ir modes o f g row th , n or
h a b its, a g re e .”
T h e fronds sp re ad on th e g ro u n d , o r on stones, in d a n k
sh a d y places, am o n g moss, in a somewha t stellated fo rm , a n d
a re o f a d u ll b rown, in c lin in g to a chocolate co lo u r w hen fresh.
T h e y a re ra th e r m em b ran o u s th a n coria ceous, v a rio u sly lobed
sin u a te d a n d w a v y , veinless a n d smooth, e x c e p t where th e ir
su rfa ce , a n d e sp e c ia lly th e ir c u r ly edges, a re ro u g h w ith
a b u n d a n t d a rk g ra n u la tio n s. T h e u n d e r sid e is often w rin k led ,
sc a rc e ly d ow n y . T h e shields a re de sc rib ed b y A c h a riu s as
“ r e d b row n , p la c e d a t th e b a c k o f v e ry sh o rt lobes, a n d
tran sv erse ly o b lo n g ,” th a t is sh o rt a n d b ro a d , not ro u n d as in
resupinatus, t. 3 0 5 .— Some o f M r. W illiam s ’s specimens were
o v e rru n w ith L. Irunneus, 1 .1246, w h ic h lo o k ed as i f it were
th e ir p ro p e r fru c tific a tio n , so well d id its g ra n u la te d c :u s t
assimila te w ith th é wa rts o f o u r parilis.