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LICHEN spongiosus.
Spongy Gelatinous Lichen.
CRYPTOGAMIA Algce.
G en. Ch a r . Male, scattered warts.
Female, smooth shields or tubercles, in which the
seeds are imbedded.
Spec. Ch a r . Gelatinous, dull green. Leaves clustered,
much branched, granulated, cylindrical, obtuse.
Shields scattered, concave, brown; externally
spongy and pale, with a thin upright margin.
w E are obliged to the Rev. Mr. Harriman for this Lichen
also, sent from the county of Durham in 1802. That gentleman
informs us he had long passed it over as a Peziza, a
genus he did not particularly study; but at length he found
the leafy crust to be so intimately united with the cups, as
to put the matter out of all dispute. After much consideration,
we cannot but assent to this opinion; and we conceive
this plant to be one of the most curious Lichens, of the tribe
of Collemata, that has ever been discovered.
The crust is of the dull olive-green hue usual in that tribe,
and consists of avery gelatinous spongy mass of thick branched
and fingered leaves, whose lobes are cylindrical, obtuse and
granulated. In drying they turn paler and greyish. They
readily revive with moisture, and dry again speedily. The
shields are sessile, scattered, large, with a dark-chesnut smooth
concave disk, surrounded with a peculiar erect thin greenish
border; their outside invested with a convex thick and spongy
coat, of a light brown or buff colour, which renders them
very conspicuous. Mr. Harriman observes the plant to be
perennial, and the shields seem to be of long duration.
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