112 LICHENES. [Variolaria. 



thecia scattered, large, concave, immersed, brown, exteriorly 

 spongy and pale, their border erect, slender. Ach. L. U. p. 661. 

 Eng. Bot. t. 1374. 



On earth ; near Lisburn, Mr. Templeton. When dry the disk is 

 almost black and very concave. 



■f -j- Thallus crustaccous. 



21. Variolaria, Pers. 



Thallus crustaceous or cartilagineo-membranaceous, uniform. 

 Apothecia verruciform, formed of the thallus, bearing a pow- 

 dery or flocculent substance covering the disk. 



1. V. griseo-virens, Turn, and Borr. " Crust elliptical, 

 inclining to tartareous, thin, slightly rugged, grey, nearly inde- 

 terminate; apothecia small, nearly orbicular, with a very narrow 

 elevated border; powder greenish-grey." Turn, and Borr. Lich. 

 Br. p. 54. Eng. Bot. t. 2400. 



On cherry bark at Killarney. Sir Thomas Gage. I have never 

 seen this species. 



2. V. discoidea, Pers. Thallus orbicular, somewhat tartare- 

 ous, wrinkled, powdery on the surface, glaucous white, with a 

 zonate border of various colours ; apothecia numerous, with a 

 thick border, flat or slightly convex; disk pale, flesh-coloured; 

 powder white. Pers. ap. Uster. in annal. d. Bot. St. 7. Eng. 

 Bot. t. 1714. 



Near Bantry, Miss Hutchins. 



3. V. faginea, Pers. Thallus orbicular, subtartareous, smooth 

 when young, glaucous white, with a zonate border of various 

 colours; apothecia numerous, with a narrow border ; disk con- 

 vex; powder white. Pers.ap. Ust. in Ann. d. Bot. SL 7. Eng. 

 Bot. t.\7\3. 



On trees, near Belfast, also on stones on Devis Mountain, Mr. 

 Templeton. The bitter taste of the foregoing species, absent in this, 

 has been supposed to be a sure criterion between them : all other dis- 

 tinctions, it must be confessed, are too slight. But the rock variety of 

 Mr. Templeton, above quoted, is as bitter as V. discoidea. 



4. V. aspergil'a, Ach. Thallus tartareous, subdeterminate, 

 thickish, of a slightly glaucous-white, unaltered by moisture, 

 wrinkled, with a smooth, thin, white border; apothecia rather 

 scattered, elevated, flattish-hemispherical, their border obso- 

 lete ; their powder white and greenish-white, collected into gra- 

 nulations. Ach. Lich. U. p. 325. Eng. Bot. t. 2401. 



On oaks, at Dromore, County of Kerry. Patch from four to six 

 inches wide. Thallus of a dull white, unaltered when wet, but the 

 powder on the apothecia shows more of a greenish-hue : beneath the 

 powder is a thick dense layer of a pale flesh coloured matter, in which, 

 however, neither cellules or gongi/li are discoverable, thus representing 

 a barren lamina proligera. 



