[ 1866 ]
LICHEN parasiticus.
Parasitical Dusky Lichen,
CRYPTOGAMIA Alga.
G en. Ch a r . Male, scattered warts.
Female, smooth shields or tubercles, in which the
seeds are imbedded.
Spec. Ch a r . Fronds coriaceous, convex, rounded,
lobed, copper-coloured; at length rugged: black
and shaggy beneath. Tubercles scattered, sunk,
minute, coal-black ; at length prominent and
convex.
T h IS singular species, of which we can find no mention,
grows parasitically, in patches or tufts, upon the fronds of
L . omphalodes, t. 6 0 4 , and we have therefore chosen for it the
above name, which is at present unoccupied, and indeed has
never before been with equal propriety given to any Lichen.
Mr. Griffith first sent us specimens of this, many vears ago,
from North Wales. Mr. G.'B. Sowerby found the same on
Cribbath hill, near Yetraed -Gynlais, South Wales, and Mr.
D. Turner with Mr. W. J. Hooker gathered specimens at the
foot of Ben Nevis in Scotland.
The tufts are scarcely an inch broad, and are readily distinguishable
from the plant on which they grow by their lighter
colour. Each of them is rounded and lobed, at first smooth
and fiattish, but at length tumid, convex, rugged, cracked,
and partly bleached. The under surface is shaggy with dense
black hairs. The fructification consists of several scattered,
minute, coal-black tubercles, at first sunk in the frond, or at
least on a level with its surface, but by age becoming prominent,
convex, and almost globular. This should seem to b e -.
long to the Acharian genus Endocarpon, but the ripe tubercles
are too prominent, and indeed at an early age we think we
perceive the proper margin of his- Lecidece.