14 
which it belongs is that in which Lichens attain their maximum 
development, and in tropical countries there are numerous species 
of great luxuriance and beauty. 
These are but a few of the foliaceous Lichens we meet with in 
this neighbourhood, but time will not permit me to mention more, 
as there are other forms to notice, and the internal structure yet to 
be considered, and I must hasten forward as quickly as I can. 
The third modification of the thallus is that of those Lichens 
which assume the form of miniature leafless shrubs. Some species, 
indeed, carry this mimicry of higher plants a step further, and add 
to their stems and branches simulacra of leaves. I need hardly 
say again that these are only instances of the playful humour of 
Dame Nature, and that in these particular plants we still have 
only one organ, the thallus, which performs, as in all other 
Lichens, the functions distributed in flowering plants between root 
and stem and leaf. 
Of these shrubby Lichens a very good instance is to be found in 
a species widely spread throughout the British Islands on moorish 
ground, where among the ling, heath, and short grasses, its gray 
bushy growths fill up the gaps left by other vegetation. In more 
northern countries, as in Scandinavia, and in mountainous districts 
like Switzerland, its development is much finer than with us. In 
Norway, during winter, it is often fed upon by reindeer, which seek 
it under the snow, and on this account Linnezeus called it Lichen 
rangiferinus, which has been Englished into “reindeer moss.” 
In reality there are two species so closely alike as to be with 
difficulty separated without recourse to chemical tests, and that to 
which Dr. Nylander has restricted the name, does not seem to be 
at all common in England. Our form, sub-species, species, or 
what you will, is the Cladina sylvatica of Nylander, but it may well 
keep the popular name of reindeer moss, especially as it is not 
probable the reindeer themselves would know the difference. 
The reindeer lichen belongs to a tribe the members of which are 
almost protean in their diversity, and which has always been the 
crux of lichenographers. Forms of them may be met with almost 
everywhere, growing on earth and dead wood. Among the most 
