FLORA VITIENSIS. 421 
1. C. molybdæa, Pers. іп Gaud, Uran. 206, Nyl. Lich. Nov. Caled. p. 22; thallus glaucescens, 
lobatus, ambitu radiato-inciso, margine ambitus crenato, et versus ambitum concentrice arcuato- 
rugulosus, subtus nigricanti-rhizinosus; apothecia rufa, plana, mediocria; spore ellipsoides, simplices. 
(Specimen tamen in hoc herb. non bene est evolutum.)—Viti (Seemann! n. 852). 
V. Verrucaria, Pers. Thallus varius, sæpe obsoletus, aut nullus proprius. Apothecia pyre- 
nodinea, perithecio denigrato, raro pallida, rarius colorata; spore varie. Spermogonia sterigmatibus 
simplicibus. 
1. V. aurantiaca, Nyl. Syn. Pyren. p. 48; Pyrenula aurantiaca, Fée, Ess. Suppl. t. 37. 
f. 1; thallus tenuis, intense aurantiacus, laevis vel ruguloso-inæqualis, opacus, determinatus, intus 
albicans ; apothecia innata, perithecio integro nigro, minuta, interdum quædam confluentia; spore 
incolores vel fuscæ, 4-loculares.—Growing on Cocoa-nut-trees, and imparting to their trunks a 
reddish hue (Seemann! n. 865). 
Овро CXII. FUNGI. 
(Aucrore WORTHINGTON б. SMITH.) 
But few Fungi were collected by Dr. Seemann, and two of these were imperfect. His n. 856 is a 
species of Lentinus, allied to L. vulpinus, Fr., but the materials are insufficient; whilst his n. 855 belongs 
to Rhizomorpha, formerly held to be a good genus, but now known to be only the myceloid condition of 
different Fungi. This Rhizomorpha is one of the few Fungi used for dress, and thus described in 
Dr. Seemann’s ‘ Viti,’ p. 852. Speaking of the different * Likus,” or dresses, made of leaves and fibres, the 
author says :—“ Amongst the permanent Likus is one termed ‘ Sausauwai, the long black fringes of which, 
playing on the white Tapa, or on the fine limbs of the natives, has a most graceful appearance. Both on 
account of the scarcity of the materials of which it is composed, and its being unaffected by water, espe- 
cially when greased with cocoa-nut oil, the Sausauwai is highly valued by fishermen, and all people living 
оп the coast of Fiji; they will give twenty fathoms of white Tapa, and the Tonguese and Samoans as much 
as £1 sterling, for a single one of these elegant articles of dress. The fringes of which it is composed are 
of the thickness of a common wire, rather flexible, and occasionally ornamented with small beads. Placed 
under the microscope, the vegetable origin of these fringes becomes at once evident, and they are found to 
be composed of glossy black joints, of unequal length. None, save a few natives, had ever seen the plant 
producing them, and it was the general belief of all the foreign residents in Fiji that they were the roots 
of a certain tree, until Mr. Pritchard and myself made the subject a point of special inquiry during our 
first visit to Navua. A few words from Chief Kuruduadua, and two large knives held out by us as a 
reward, induced two young men to procure a quantity of this singular production sufficient for scientific 
examination ; proving it to be, not the root of a tree, as had been believed, but the entire body of a species of 
Rhizomorpha. The plant is vernacularly termed ‘ Wa loa,’ literally, black creeper, from wa, creeper, and 
loa, black—a name occasionally applied to the Liku made of it also. The Wa loa is confined to the south- 
western parts of Viti Levu, where it grows in swamps on decaying wood fallen to the ground; the threads 
of which it consists are several feet long, leafless, not much branched, and they are furnished here and there 
with little shield-like expansions, acting as suckers, by means of which the plant is attached to the dead 
wood upon which it grows. The threads, having been beaten between stones in order to free them from 
impurities adhering, are buried for two or three days in muddy places, and are then ready for plaiting them 
to the waistband.” 
I. Agaricus, Linn. Lamellæ membranaceæ, persistentes, acie acute, trama subfloccosa cum 
hymenophoro infero concrete. Fungi carnosi, putrescentes nec exsiccati reviviscentes. 
1. A. (Pleurotus) pacificus, Berk. in Hook. Journ. 1842, p. 451; pallide ochraceus ; pileo 
apode, resupinato-reflexo, orbiculari, deinde in lobos pileiformes fisso, tenui, glabro, subvirgato, margine 
obscuriore elegantissime e lamellis tenuibus postice acutis integerrimis striato.—On sticks covered 
with bark, Viti Islands (R. B. Hinds !). 
Allied to A. nidulans. 
[PUBLISHED JUNE 1, 1871.] 31 
