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LICHEN pungens.
Pointed shrubby Lichen.
CRYPTOGAMIA Alga.
G en. Char. Male, scattered warts.
Female, smooth shields or tubercles, in which the
seeds are imbedded.
Spec. Char. Shrubby, tubula r, grey, forked, much
branched, without axillary perforations; branches
twisted and entangled, taper-pointed. Tubercles
minute, terminal, solitary, brownish-black.
Syn. Lichen pungens. Ach. Prod. 2 0 2 .
Ba;omyces pungens. Ach. Melh. 354.
G a t h e r e d upon Esher Common, in Surry, by Mr. W.
Borrer, and on that gentleman’s authority, so great in this
tribe, we publish this Lichen under the above name, having
ourselves no materials for forming a decisive judgement. For
this an original specimen from Dr. Acharius would be necessary.
It comes very near L . uncialis, t. 174, but is said to want
the axillary perforations. We find however, not very unfre-
quently, lateral fissures below the origin of the clustered
branches, but these are indeed different from the round central
openings of uncialis. The branches too are more twisted and
zigzag; Acharius says they are more brittle. The colour is a
greenish grey. The numerous, sharp, tapering, ultimate
branches are tipped with a brownish black; of which colour
also are the small, solitary, round tubercles found at the extremities
of some of them.