branched ; the subdivisions irregular, parallel, or spreading,
marked with constrictions, and frequently tipped with
a brownish speck. Scutellae not numerous, solitary, or in
little clusters, slightly elevated, with a contracted base;
disk thick, flat, or somewhat concave, dull purplish or
brownish black, the surface minutely rugged; margin tumid,
more or less inflexed, sometimes but little uneven,
sometimes crenulate, beaded, or, in old shields, beset with
minute ramuli similar to those of the thallus. The disk
has occasionally, when dry, an appearance like a proper
margin within the thalloidal one.—W. B.
