LTCHENES. 269 



Kingdom which neither Algae nor Fungi alone can fill, 

 they may well be treated in an elementary work as an 

 autonomous group equivalent to either of these Orders. 



Several species, as Lecanora and Roccella, afford a 

 valuable purple and mauve dye ; and a few are edible, as 

 the so-called Iceland Moss (Cetraria islandicci). The 

 Reindeer Moss (Cladonia rangiferina) is a Lichen, 

 extremely abundant in polar regions, serving as food to 

 the reindeer. 



HOW TO DRY PLANTS. 



Specimens which are to be dried so that they may be 

 kept in a HERBARIUM and referred to or examined at a 

 future time, ought not to be gathered at random, but 

 should be selected as average representatives of their 

 species, unless they be designed to show some departure 

 from the typical form. They ought, if possible, to be 

 taken up, when in flower, by the root, and the root should 

 be pressed, if not too large, along with the rest. If the 

 radical leaves be withered at the time of flowering, 

 another specimen should be gathered at an earlier season 

 to show them, as the radical leaves are often very different 

 in form from those of the stem as, for example, in the 

 Harebell. Besides expanded flowers, the bud and ripe 

 fruit should be shown ; and if these cannot be had upon 

 a single specimen, other examples should be collected, to 

 show the plant in its different states. A strong knife or 

 small trowel will be found useful to dig up the specimens. 



The specimens should not be allowed to wither before 

 reaching home. They may either be carried in a tin box, 

 or loosely spread between sheets of paper in a portfolio. 

 Fig. 206 shows a collecting portfolio, which may be made 

 of two pieces of pasteboard sixteen inches long by ten 

 inches wide, fastened, as shown in the cut, by tape or 

 straps. A few sheets of absorbing paper must be kept in 

 the portfolio. 



In laying out the specimens for the press, use plenty of 



