ON CENOMYCE RETIPORA. 293 
Cenomyce refipora; thallo nullo Di.  podetis confertis 
crassis subcrustaceis ramosis cespitosis demum concretis 
ubique reticulato-pertusis albis apicibus flavescentibus, ra- 
mulis terminalibus copiosis radiatis (nunc etiam inferioribus) 
fertilibus, apotheciis minutis primum cylindraceis demum 
subglobosis vel etiam depressis superficie minute gra- 
nulosis. 
Cenomyce retipora. Achar. Syn. Meth. Lich. p. 948. Ach. 
Rich. Fl. Nov. Zel. v. 1. p. 822. All. Cunn. Bot. of N. Zeal. 
in Hook. Bot. Mag. v. 2. p. 232. 
Beomyces retiporus. Labill. Fl. Nov. Holl. v. 2. p. 110. tab. 
214. f.2. 
Has. In sterile stony places, frequently among shrubs; Van 
Dieman’s Land. Labdillardiére, R. Gunn, Esq., TEREE 
All. Cunningham, W. Colenso, Esg. 
Nothing in nature can exceed the elegant lace-like appear- 
ance of this plant, a structure one would little expect to meet 
with in the humblest and least perfect part, asit is usually con- 
sidered, of the vegetable creation, the Lichens. Labillardiére, 
and, following him, Acharius, ascribe a thallus to this species, 
as * crustaceous, with scattered shining granules ;" but my 
copious specimens exhibit no appearance of a thallus. If it 
exists, it is probably very evanescent. The podetia are 
numerous, crowded; the main trunk a quarter to half an 
inch broad, erect, copiously, almost from the base, alternately, 
yet somewhat dichotomously, branched with short, thick, 
spreading branches, which frequently unite with the adjoining 
podetia or their branches; or, when free, they dilate, and are 
jagged at their apices; or more commonly, especially in the 
upper ones, they again divide into several small radiating, 
but frequently nearly erect short and small branches, bearing 
apothecia. The texture of the entire plant is, as it were, be- 
tween crustaceous and cartilaginous, not much unlike that of 
our well-known Cenomyce rangiferina ; but, instead of form- 
ing an uniform tubular membrane, the whole surface is a 
tissue of elegant network, the areole oval or rounded, vary- 
ing somewhat in size, but gradually becoming smaller in the 
