Verrucaria.] 



LICHENES. 87 



reddish-brown, the margin prickly, subreflexed. Ach. L. Un. 

 p. 612. Eng. Bot. t. 452. 



Near Belfast, Mr. Templeton. On the mountains in the South ; 

 common. 



3. C. lanata, Ach. Thallus decumbent, tufted, brownish- 

 black, shining; the branches slender, flexuose, round; apothecia 

 reddish-brown. Ach. L. Un. p. 615. Eng. Bot. t. 846. 



Near Belfast, Mr. Templeton. On the mountains in the South ; 

 common. The apothecia have not yet been found in Ireland. 



13. Verrucaria, Per soon. 



Thallus crustaceous, or cartilagineo-membranaceous, uniform. 



Apothecia subglobose, partly immersed, of a different colour 



and substance from the thallus, enclosing a nucleus, the apex 



papillose, usually perforated. 



The limits between this genus and Endocarpon are not very strict ; 

 still the freedom beneath of the margins of the lobes seems to present 

 a natural character to the latter. 



1. V. nitida, Schrad. Thallus cartilaginous, continuous, 

 smooth, pale, brown, somewhat pellucid, with minute pale ele- 

 vations of the cuticle, swelling about the apothecia; apothe- 

 cia thickly set, globose, half immersed, black. Schrad. Journ. 

 for 1801, Ease 1, p. 79, Borrer inEng. Bot. Supp. t. 2607,/. 1. 



On the bark of trees ; common. The pale dots or elevations of the 

 cuticle are sometimes, though rarely, wanting. The crust is apt to be 

 thickened towards the edges, forming a kind of border. The surface 

 has a greasy appearance. The perithecium passes under the nucleus. 



2. V. dermatodes, Borr.. Thallus filmy or cartilaginous, 

 continuous, smooth, shining, white slightly suffused with red, 

 swelling about the apothecia; apothecia hemispherical, black, 

 half immersed. Borrer in Eng. Bot. Supp. t. 2607,/. 2. 



Near Bantry, Miss Hutchins. On holly especially, also on oak at 

 Askew wood, near Sneem. In contact with other lichens it throws 

 out a dark brown limit to the thallus. The perithecium is deficient 

 below the nucleus. The apothecia are not half the size of those of 

 the preceding : the thallus shining and without any pale dots strewed 

 over the surface. Hitherto, this species is limited to the South of 

 Ireland. 



3. V. covferta. Thallus between powdery and tartareous, 

 black, very thin, not limited ; apothecia crowded, large, black, 

 rough, bursting up from under the cuticle of the bark of the 

 tree on which it grows. 



On birch, at Askew Wood ; County of Kerry. The size of the 

 apothecia rivals that of V. nitida ; the patch is often much larger. 

 It has the habit of certain fungi, that commence existence under the 

 cuticle of the bark ; hence, that which to a casual observer might 

 appear a white filmy thallus, is nothing more than the cuticle of the 

 tree ; from under it the apothecia burst out of splits, the cuticle peels 



