29G Rev. ^V. A. Tjcighton on the British Unibiliciiri;c. 



coarse network ; the interior of the cavities bhick, and rather 

 more minutely grannhited than the other parts : substance cori- 

 aceous, thin, very llexil)le when wet, but exceedingly brittle when 

 dry. Tried' of extremely rare oeeurrenec, scattered among the 

 tufts of tloceuli, j)rincii)ally towards the edges of the thallus; 

 patelliform, sessile, yet slightly elevated, nrceolatc when young, 

 afterwi.rds subturbinate, orbicular, their largest size about equal 

 to that of rape-seed ; their margin at first raised, thick, often 

 very rugged and even flocculose, sometimes entire or only waved, 

 gradually becoming narrower, and at length obliterated, as the 

 disk, which in the young fruit is concave, becomes Hat, and at 

 last slightly convex. This part is, in all its stages, Oj)ake, and 

 of an uneven appearance, when observed with a glass; in old 

 convex trica? it is occasionally rugged with irregular warts, 

 usually depressed at the centre, and approaching more or less 

 nearly to the appearance of imperfect gyri. These warts in our 

 specimens do not assume a concentric arrangement, but are 

 cither scattered singly or clustered into little groups." — Lich. 

 Brit. Sporidia one or two in (;ach ascus, of a very large size, 

 ()l)long, j)ale, and wrinkled with network, without apj)arent septa, 

 though not unfrequently three darker lines may be seen like 

 horizontal septa*. 



It would seem that the external darker portion of the cor- 

 tical layer (»f the a])otheciuui frequently developcs into minute, 

 branched, thick, fleshy fibres, which increase into the tufts or 

 tloceuli above mentioned. 



Specimens in my own herbarium from Upsal, collected by 

 Fries fil. and Dr. Nylaudcr; from Italy, Prof. De Notaris; from 

 Aste, M. Philippe; from S. de Amoreira, Estremadura, S. de 

 Cintra, and S. de Gerez, Nos. 21, 32 & 107 of Dr. Fr. Wel- 

 witsch's ' Cryptothcca Lusitana,^ are in all respects identical with 

 our British plant. 



Mr. Menzies' specimen from the Cape of Good Hope ! in 

 herb. li(jrnr, mentioned in Lich. Brit. 231', is smoother and 

 less graniUated on both surfaces, tinged of an ochrey-red ; the 

 apothecia very numerous, much more sessile, their margins 

 entire or irregularly waved and undulated, but not at all fibrous. 

 Sporidia similar to those of British specimens. A specimen in 

 my own herbarium received from Prof. De Notaris, collected by 

 Zeyher at the Cape of Good Hope, and labelled " Lasallia (Gyro- 

 ])hora, Eschw.) porphyrea, De Not.," appears identical with 

 Mr. Menzies' in structure and sporidia. The thallus when wetted 

 becomes of a vivid scarlet hue. 



Of the two specimens of G. Pentisylvanico in herb. Borrer ! 



* For the spermagonia see Tulasne, /. c. 



