102 Notice of some Plants of Lynnfield, Danvers, 



rocks, several interesting Lichenes met my eye. Among 

 these, I detected what I have but little hesitation in pro- 

 nouncing Lec'idea decolorans Acharius ; or, now known as 

 BiAT^ORA decolorans Fries, This singular lichen had all 

 the air of some Alpine production, with its apothecia of fus- 

 cous hue when dry, but of a red color when moistened. In 

 this immediate neighborhood I had found Parintlia detonsa 

 Fries's Syst : Orh : Veg : p. 284, so metamorphosed by 

 struggling for growth on the surface of the bare rocks lately 

 denuded of trees, and thus deprived of its favorite shade, 

 that I was for some time doubtful of its identity. The 

 smaller stones and fragments of rocks lying scattered about 

 in confusion, were covered with Collema nigresceiis Ach : 

 and where any crevices alloAved, the Polypodiiim vulgare 

 intermixed with Bartrmnm pomiformis, and several species 

 of Sticta was to be seen fringing the outlines of crags with 

 a feathery contour. The Umbilicari^ of several species, 

 gave characteristic shagginess to gigantic bowlders, of which 

 Umhil: DelUnii Tuckerm. Synopsis Northern Lich. was 

 to be frequently seen of extraordinary dimensions, and Um- 

 hil : Muhlenbergii, so useful as an article of food to the No- 

 madic tribes of our Indians, in close proximity to Umhil: 

 pustulata. 



Not far from this range of high, wooded precipices, in 

 company with my friend Dr. Andrew Nichols, long known 

 as a careful and accurate observer, I once found a small clus- 

 ter of very fine and fertile specimens of Cladonia gracilis^ 

 variety elongata, near the summit of an elevation, which the 

 coast survey had selected for the site of one of its signal- 

 staffs. From the top of this rock, lying within the limits of 

 Danvers, the scenery was of an unsurpassed kind. Before 

 us lay the ocean and several mimic lakes, the distant Blue 

 Hills of Milton, and the shadowy outlines of farther off 

 mountains in New Hampshire ; the still and quiet inlets of 

 the sea, and bold promontories which stretched out into its 

 bosom, the numerous emerald-like islands of the bay, the 

 tall lighthouses of the coast, the wave-beaten and rocky 

 shores of Lynn, and the narrow belt of sandy barrier, which 



