1 



o 



f 



USNEA SPHACELATA 



Usnea 



Usnea 



spliacelata ; thallo erectiusculo fruticuliformi, ramis primariis 

 ocliroleucis nigro-vittatis laevibus, ultirais attenuatis nigris, sorediis 

 confertis concoloribus ochrolcucisve. Br, (Tab. XIL) 



spliacelata. Br. in Parrj/s First Voy. App. p. cccvii. Hooker 



of ArcL PI 



Usnea? prope melaxantham, Br. Spitzh. PL in Scorcshj/s ArcL 1. 



App.p>- 76. 



r 



Hab. In rupibus apud Spitzbergen. D. Scorcshy ct Sabine. In Insula 



Melville, D. Parry. In summitate Montis Tabularis Insula Van 

 Dieman. D. Brown. 



" Proxima U. melaxantJicE Ach. Syn. p. 303, differt statura aliquoties 



minore, ramis primariis Isevibus, sorediorum praesentia. Apo- ' 

 thecia nondum visa. Eandem speciem, sorediis pariter instruc- 

 tam apotheciisque destitutam,^ in summitate Montis Tabularis 

 Insulae Van Dieman, anno 1804, legi." Br. 



Mr. Brown has here justly obscrv cd how closely this species 

 is allied to the South American U. melaxaiitha. Indeed^ that 



lichen which I have described as the U. melaxantha in Hum- 

 boldt and Kunth's Synopsis^ and which is found at an eleva- 

 tion of more than 10,000 feet upon the Andes, differs in no 

 respect from the present plant, except in having the base of 

 the thallus of a; reddish yellow, and the extremities of the 

 branches more hlack. Mr. Brown farther mentions that he 

 has found U. sphacelata also^ but destitute of fructification, 

 upon Table Mountain, in Van Dieman's Island. From a neigh- 

 bouring country, New Holland, I have received the equally 

 nearly allied species, U.fasciata^ and in a very fine state of 

 fructification, differing in no respect from the antarctic spe- 

 cimens. These latter approach the U. sphacelata in their 

 pale yellowish hue, the U. melaxantha in the more crowded 

 ramification, and hispid or tuberculated thallus ; and differ 



