Variolaria.} LICHENES. 113 



5. V. lactea, PERS. Thallus tartareous, white, smooth, crack- 

 ed, the border thin, tinged of a flesh colour ; apothecia nume- 

 rous, suborbicular, flattish, their border at length obsolete ; 

 their powder white. Pers. ap. Ust. in Ann. d Bot. St. 7, accord- 

 ing to Ach. Lich. Un. p. 321. Eng. Bot. t. 2410. ft. arenar'm. 

 " Thallus continuous, dirty lead-coloured ; apothecia elevated, 

 nearly spherical." Hook. Eng. Flor. v. 5, p. 170. 



a. on siliceous rocks, Kenmare River. {3. Mr. J. T. Mackay. 

 Thallus scarcely altered in colour when moistened : the border some- 

 times not conspicuous. The apothecia do not seem to bear fertile 

 lamina proligera beneath the powder with which the surface is strewn 

 over. 1 have not seen the var. 3. but quote it on Dr. Hooker's autho- 

 rity. 



6. V. constellata. 1 hallus filmy, subtartareous, wrinkled with 

 flattish, minute granulations, thin, of a greyish-white, indeter- 

 minate ; apothecia numerous, rather evenly and thickly set, 

 small, white, subhemispherical ; disk flesh coloured ; the bor- 

 der rather thick, ruptured. 



On birch bark at Askew Wood, County of Kerry. The thallus 

 scarcely assumes a greener shade when moistened, and forms a broad 

 patch, conspicuous at a distance from its whiteness ; it closely invests 

 the bark ; its border a little whiter, is neither zonate or fibrous, but 

 gradually disappearing. The pow T der over the disk of the apothecia is 

 pure white, continuous, and like a coarse granulation ; beneath this a 

 very fine white powder covers the pale flesh coloured disk ; the border 

 is rather thick, low, having all round a ruptured appearance, and exhi- 

 biting greenish points, as if from the thallodal rim a circular piece had 

 been abraded. The lamina proligera, when wet, is pale, gelatinous, 

 semitransparent, and consists of elongated, among punctiform cel- 

 lules. 



7. V. corallina, ACH. Thallus tartareous, thick, of a lead- 

 grey, cracked, wrinkled, bearing pale, round buds on cylindri- 

 cal, closely set elevations ; apothecia hemispherical, flattened 

 above; border inflexed, closely granular, white as well as the 

 powder over the pale flesh-coloured disk. Ach. L. Un. p. 319. 



On siliceous rocks, in the mountains, County of Kerry. Our plant 

 exactly accords with the Acharian description, and very well with that 

 of Isidium paradoxum, Hook. Eng. Fl. v. 5, p. 231, except that the 

 bodies with which the cylindrical podetia are tipped, are rarely of a 

 brownish-olive, but usually whitish : when these drop, they leave cup- 

 shaped cavities on the tops of the podetia, green at their bottoms. 

 The colour of the thallus is unaltered by moisture. The border and 

 tops of the apothecia often bear buds. The disk is of a pale wax or 

 flesh colour, covered with a fine white powder ; the lamina proligera 

 is small compared to the size of the apothecium, and when wet is gela- 

 tinous and semi-transparent, and consists of numerous elongated cel- 

 lules among others that are short and roundish. 



8. V. polythecia. Thallus tartareous, thick, granulated, 

 rough, indeterminate, greyish-lead-coloured ; apothecia stalked, 

 thickly set, with coarse, white and greenish powder; the bor- 



