raised ; in the really fibrous texture of the underside; and,
in some degree, in the figure of the scales and in the incisions
of their edges; and not less in the tubercles. These,
in the present species, have in the immersed part a thin pe-
rithecium, of no darker colour than the nucleus ; such, we
presume, as Acharius held essentially characteristic of a
genuine Endocarpon ; whilst those of V. pallida have, in
every part, a thick black shell. In this respect V. sorediata
(see our next page) agrees with V. pallida; and it further
differs from V. psoromoides by the peculiar apex of its tubercles,
by the larger scales of its thallus, and their much
more downy or, rather, spongy edges. Endocarpon muscorum
of Persoon, Ach. Lich. Univ. p. 300, is joined to E. pallidum
by Acharius in his Synopsis.
Our trivial name alludes to the general resemblance of
the plant to some of the Lecanorce and Lecidecc, of which
Acharius, in his Prodromus, formed the tribe Psoroma. To
this tribe both V. psoromoides and V. pallida might well be
referred were the tubercles unknown.—W. B.
2612. (Fig. 2.)
V E R R U C A R I A sorediata.
Powdery-specked Leafy Verrucavia.
CRYPTOGAMIA Lichenes.
G e n . C h a r . Tubercles of a different substance from
the thallus, simple, convex, not expanding, but
furnished with a central pore, and inclosing a
somewhat gelatinous nucleus.
Spec. Char. Scales between tartareous and leafy, rather
wide, mostly scattered, appressed, flat, irregularly
orbicular, lobed, olive-green ; underside
brownish; edges slightly elevated, notched,
spongy, pale grey. Tubercles black, immersed
except the powdery blackish-grey apex.
.A.NOTHER very distinct species of the Endocarpon tribe.
It was discovered, more than twenty years ago, by Mr. Dawson
Turner, on mud-walls at Thetford; where it is very inconspicuous,
when dry, from the close resemblance of its pale
grey-brown colour to that of the substance on which it grows,
although individual scales often attain the width of a quarter
of an inch, and they are sometimes clustered into considerable
patches. When wet, the living plant is of a dull olive-
green. There is something peculiar in the narrow parallel
notches of the edges, and in the grey felt-like down which
forms about them, especially in young plants, a narrow border.
This part is usually a little raised and crisped, and
occasionally the scales are slightly imbricated ; the rest of
the thallus is closely appressed, and, with the exception of
little tumid lines at the sinuses of the larger lobes, is not
otherwise uneven than as it follows the inequalities of the
subjacent soil. The underside is brownish, or blackish, and
appears to be covered throughout with a substance similar
to that found at the edges ; but it is difficult to determine