624 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Lichens. 



(By A. Lorrain Smith.) 



Physma dalmaticum.* — A. Zahlbruckner described some peculiar 

 bodies in the thallus of this lichen, and Em. Senft has made a thorough 

 examination of the tissues to determine their character and nature. 

 They are at first globose or ovate in form, becoming irregular later, and 

 lie usually free in the mucilage. They are not unlike cystoliths in 

 appearance. After prolonged testing and examining of their properties, 

 he finds that they are the products of enzymatic action on the hyphfe of 

 the lichen. 



The Genus Usnea.t— R. Heber Howe has issued preliminary notes 

 of a proposed monograph of this genus of Lichens. Under the com- 

 prehensive name of Usnea barbata he recognises four distinct species, 

 U.florida, U. ceratina, U. dasypoga, and U. plicata ; all of these being 

 more or less papillate, but differing in modes of branching, occurrence 

 of fruits, and general size of the plants. U.florida is the species that 

 bears most abundant fruit, especially in swampy regions with abundant 

 moisture ; in drier regions only a few plants bear apothecia. Among 

 the epapillate species, the commonest in the States is U. trichodea, a 

 slender filamentous plant. U. longissima is common in high altitudes, 

 and attains a length of nearly 4 m. A list is given of New England 

 records of species of Usnea. 



Studies in Peltigera. } — Georg Bitter publishes a morphological 

 account of Peltigera nigripunctata sp. n., and of the cephalodia which 

 occur on the surface, to which it owes its name. It was included by 

 Hue under P. horizontalis. The alga forming the thallus is a small 

 yellowish-green Stichococcus ; the alga of the cephalodia is a deep blue- 

 green Nostoc. Bitter considers that the species stands midway between 

 Peltigera horizon talis and P. veaosa, the latter also a species with 

 cephalodia. The appearance of the thallus in each lichen is described 

 and compared. 



Cyphelium (Acolium) verrucosum sp. n.§ — This new lichen was 

 found growing in great abundance on old worked wood in Schleswig- 

 Holstein, and has been described by F. Ericksen. In the near neigh- 

 bourhood, Cyphelium inquinans was also found to be very plentiful : it 

 differs in the form and size of the spores, and in the potash reaction of 

 the thallus. 



Collection of Lichens. || — Bouly de Lesdain sums up his work on the 

 lichens of Versailles by giving a list of those found on various debris 

 in the Park, such as broken glass, old iron, leather, cloths, paper, silver, 

 felt, etc. He records not only lichens, but mosses and fungi from 



* S.B. Akad. Wiss. Math.-Nat. KL, cxvi. (1907) pp. 429-38 (1 pi.). 



t Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, xxxvi. (1909) pp. 309-26 (3 pis.). 



\ Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesell., xxvii. (1909) pp. 186-95 (1 pi.). 



§ Hedwigia, xlviii. (1909) pp. 210-11. 



|| Bull. Soc. Bot. France, ix. (1909) pp. 3-7. 



