senii and especially with V siriatula whose color is also similar 

 Ridges often merge with the peritheeia at the base. 



The penthecia are convex to hemispherical and usually shiny. 

 Darkness of the lower excipulum is a highly variable factor Gener- 

 ally some carbonaceous granules lend to extend below the mvolu- 

 crcllum and may continue somewhat throughout the lower 

 involuerellum (sec the key). However, the species should not be 

 charactenzed as having an involuerellum that is dark below, a view 

 adopted by Erichsen ( 1957). 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION: Germany (Erichsen 1957), Nor- 

 way (Santesson MSC). 



NORTHEASTERN AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION: MAINE: 

 Cumberiand Co., Sagadahoc Co., Hancock Co. RHODE 

 ISLAND: Newport Co. MASSACHUSETTS: Plymouth Co., 

 Essex Co. NEW HAMPSHIRE: Rockmgham Co. NOVA SCO- 

 TIA: Yarmouth Co., Digby Co.. Shelburne Co., Halifax Co., Vic- 

 tona Co. NEWFOUNDLAND: West Coast Section. Northern 

 Peninsula Section, East Coast Section. Not previously reported 

 from North Amenca. 



Vcrnicaria crichsenii Zsch. in Erichs. Verb. Bot, Vereins Prov. 

 Brandenburg 70: 192. 1928. 



DESCRIPTION: Thallus entire or areolate, black to blackish- 

 brown dry, amber and more translucent when wet, roughened by 

 rows of pegs or ndges; ridges often branched, sometimes sub- 

 merged in thallus and visible only when wet; thallus 30-70/jni 

 thick. Penthecia elevated, conical to hemispherical, spreading in 

 irregular pattern at base, often with pegs or ridges as on thallus. 

 0. 1-0.3 mm diameter, excipulum hyalme below. Spores ovoid, col- 

 orless. 8-9 X 4.5-7fim. 



Vernicaria erichsenii demonstrates considerable thallus varia- 

 tion. It is usually considered to be cleariy rimose or areolate. Typi- 

 cally this is so but it is not uncommon to find a thallus of V. 

 erichsenii continuous in an especially wet environment, where the 

 thallus becomes thick and gelatinous. When dry the thallus is usu- 

 ally blackish-brown to black, A grey morphotype with a texture 

 like that of graphite was collected in the Narragan.sett Bay area. 

 When moistened during examination the thallus increased in trans- 

 parency, one of the best tests of questionable thalli. When wetted 

 they reveal a pattern of black markings typical of the pattern of 

 ridges usually seen above the surface. The thallus of V. erichsenii 

 typically has short, often branched irregular ridges or rows of 

 points, frequently confluent with or continuing up over the penthe- 

 cia. Ridges are longer than wide and rarely very high. In extreme 

 circumstances ridges become higher and sharper forming cusps and 

 aretes. In other extremes they may be immersed within the thallus 

 to be revealed only by wetting. 



The most consistent character of the penthecium appears to be 

 the irregular spreading base which seems most pronounced when 

 viewed from above a wet thallus or when the thallus has been 

 peeled from the rock and placed on a slide and illuminated from 

 below. The diameters of penthecia tend to fall between 0. 1 and 0.3 

 mm. 



Zschacke (1934) and Enchsen ( 1957) both list a spore range of 8- 

 12 X 5-7;(m which agrees with the author's observations. 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION: Germany (Enchsen 1957), Bnt- 

 ish Columbia (Ohls.son MSC), Sweden (Santesson MSC). Nonvay 



(Santesson MSC). Wales (Brodo MSC). Scotland (Brodo MSC). 



NORTHEASTERN AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION: MAINE: 

 Cumberiand Co.. Sagadahoc Co.. Hancock Co.. Lincoln Co. 

 (Memll MSC). Washington Co. MASSACHUSETTS: Essex Co.. 

 Bristol Co. (Willey MSC). Plymouth Co., Barnstable Co. RHODE 

 ISLAND: Newport Co., Washington Co. CONNECTICUT; New 

 London Co. NEW HAMPSHIRE: Rockingham Co. NOVA SCO- 

 TIA: Yarmouth Co., Digby Co., Shelburne Co. . Halifax Co., Vic- 

 toria Co.. Cape Breton Co. NEWFOUNDLAND: West Coast 

 Section, Northern Peninsula Section, Avalon Section, 



Verrucarui infcrnif^rescens (Nyl.) Enchs. Vern. Bot. Vereins Prov. 

 Brandenburg 70:193. 1929. Vernicaria aethiobola van Inlerni- 

 f^rescens Nyl. in Brenner. Meddeland. Soc. Fauna Fl. Fenn 

 13:125. 1886. 



DESCRIPTION: Thallus of brown areoles connected by darker 

 brown prothallus. Peritheeia brown, convex, 0.2-0.34 mm diame- 

 ter, excipulum hyaline or intermittently darkened below. Spores 

 hyaline, thick walled, fusiform. (11.5) 15-23 (27) x (4) 6-8 

 (I4)fim. 



The brown prothallus. thallus. and penthecia are distinctive. The 

 thallus is thin by comparison with other areolate forms such as V 

 maiira and V ceiilhocarpa. The spores are distinctive, being fusi- 

 form and thick walled. Erichsen ( 1957) reported a spore range of 

 15-27 X l-\2nm. As indicated above, spores were found in the 

 North American collections as large as reported by Enchsen but 

 they were bloated and of atypical shape. Most spores seen were in 

 the range of 15-23 ^ 6-8;(m. Erichsen (1957) listed this species as 

 both littoral and nonlittoral. therefore, it may be assumed to be 

 facultative in its habits. This species was collected at only one 

 locality in North America and this is the first record from North 

 America. 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION: Germany (Enchsen 1957). 



NORTHEASTERN AMERICAN DISTRIBUTION: NEW- 

 FOUNDLAND: Avalon Section. 



Vernicaria maiira Wahlenb. in Ach. Suppl. Meth. Lich. 19. 1803. 



DESCRIPTION: Thallus dark, usually black to brownish-black, 

 sometimes green, opaque (wet or dry), rimose areolate. usually 

 with small black pegs or points (sometimes obscured by epithallic 

 algae), thin to thick (75-300 ^mi). Peritheeia small to large (usually 

 large) 0.3-0.7 mm diameter, sunken to prominently raised tops 

 rounded to concave, may be covered visibly by pegs. e,xcipulum 

 entirely black below. Spores ovoid, hyaline 10-20 x 7-10;im. 



Vernicaria nuiitra is probably one of the most widely used names 

 among the littoral lichens. This often leads to the report of the spe- 

 cies based on the most cursory examination. The species is highly 

 variable and its variation has probably been best understood and 

 described by Santesson ( 1939. footnote 2). The author can add little 

 to the descnption of variation provided by Santesson (footnote 2) 

 and would like here to merely record his concurrence and quote 

 Santesson's description (the material quoted was provided for the 

 author in Swedish by Santesson) of typical V nuiiira as ; " 1 . Indis- 

 tinct or dark prothallus. 2. Definite black thallus. 3. areolate thal- 

 lus. 4. thallus surface with distinct but little conspicuous points, 5. 



19 



