CLASS CRYPTOGAMIA. 215 



or shield-like bodies, of a darker or different color 

 from the frond on which they grow, and contain the 

 sporae. Many of these foliaceous Lichens give 

 off an abundance of viviparous progeny in the bran-like 

 scales with which they may often be seen covered ; 

 these scab s, like the shoots and buds of phenogamous 

 plants, are so many living germs of independent ex- 

 istence. Other Lichens appear intricately ramified 

 like trees in miniature. Such are the Rein-deer Moss 

 (L. rangiferinus of Linnaeus), whose fruit appears in 

 the form of brown tubercles. Another species of this 

 subgenus (Bceomyces cocciferus) presents warts of a 

 brilliant scarlet. This species is not uncommon on de- 

 cayed wooden fences in moist situations. Some of 

 these plants are employed in dying, and the Iceland 

 moss ( Cetraria Islandica) is used in medicine. 



Fungi, or Mushroom tribe. 



These plants have an appearance altogether differ- 

 ent from the rest of the vegetable kingdom. They all 

 agree in being destitute of verdure, often of very quick 

 growth, and short duration. They form various gen- 

 era, extremely simple in their structure, with very ob- 

 scure fructification, and many of them growing in dark 

 or even subterraneous situations. The Mushroom 

 genus (Agarkvs) contains the common eatable spe- 

 cies (A. canipes(ris), distinguished by the following- 

 characters ; it bears a convex, scaly, white cap or 

 head, supported on a stipe or stalk ; the whole at 

 first covered by a valve or wrapper which bursts by 

 the sudden growth of the stipe. In the Mushroom the 

 gills, or hymaneum, is almost of a flesh-colored red, 

 turning dark by exposure to the air, and at length 

 nearly black. If the Mushroom be left for a time on 

 a plate of glass, a powder will be found deposited of a 



