Ar-ECTOUTA.] ALKCrORlEI. 209 



(irows ill larjTfi tufts with tlio tiiallus at lenfrth free, is often sprinkle<l 

 with small wliitish soredia, and htv* the fertile branches thickt-r. It 

 varies somewhat in the dejrree of blackness with which its normally pale 

 yellow colour is diversified, this being confined to the apices of the 

 branchlets, as is usually the case with us, or extending over the greater 

 portion of the thallus, as in Arctic regions. In Great Britain the apothecia 

 are extremely r.ire, having been seen in only a single specimen. The 

 spermogones, which are seldom present \nth us. are minute, punctate, 

 colourless within, with spermatia 0,007-8 mm. long, scarcely 0,001 mm. 

 thick. 



Ilab. Among mosses on gravelly soil in alpine places. Disfr. Confined 

 to some of tlie higher ({rainpians, Scotland, on or near their summits. — 

 H. M. : Cairngorm and Cairntoul, Braemar, Aberdeenshire ; !' Clova .Mts., 

 Forfarshire. 



Form tenilior Cronih. Jouni. Bot. 1S72, p. 232. — Thallus smaller, 

 decumbent, the branches more slender, somewhat entangled and 

 concolorons at the apices. Apothecia small, pale reddish-brown.^ 

 Leight. Lich. Fl. ed. 3, p. 79. — Lichen sarmentosus Eng. Bot. 

 t. 204U (^smaller tig.). 



This form depends no doubt upon the habitat. It bears a general re- 

 semblance except in colour to the terminal branchlets of var. cincinnala 

 of A. sarmentosa, to whicii belongs the specimen from Morrone cited in 

 Journ. Bot. /. c. and quoted in l^eight. Lich. Fl. p. 88 as var. crinalis. In 

 the only s])ecinieu seen there is but a single young apothecium visible, 

 which is rather lateral than pseudo-terminal. 



Hab. On sterile ground in alpine places. — Disfr. Seen only from one 

 of the loftier mountains of the N. Highlands of Scotland. — B. M. : Ben 

 Luighal, Sutherlandshire. 



2. A. sarmentosa Ach. Lich. Univ. (1810) p. 595. — ThaUus 

 pendulous or prostrate, elongate, complicate, very much and remotely 

 branched, compressed at the axils, whitish -straw-coloured, the 



apices attenuate, long, coucolorous (K~, K (t-"iiCl)j.~^gjjijgjj). 

 Apothecia small, lateral, badio-reddish or brown ; spores 3— Inae, 

 0,015-30 mm. long, 0,014-30 mm. thick. — Cromb. Journ. Bot. 

 1875, p. 140; Leight. Lich. Fl. ed. 3, p. 79. — Lichen sannentos^is 

 Ach, Yet. Ak. Handl. 1795, p. 212, t. 8. f. 2. ? Usnea Joints lonyis 

 dicJiotomis, exiremitatibus ttnuiorihus Dill. Muse. 59, t. 11. f. 2. 



Distinguished by the form of the thallus and the situation of the apo- 

 thecia. The thallus, which varies in thickness, is rounded or here and 

 there somewhat compressed, smooth or more or less lacunoso-f iveolate, 

 with the branches divaricate or dichotomous. Our only known British 

 specimen belongs to the usual alpine and thicker condition. It has only 

 a few apothecia and no spermogones. 



Hab. Among mosses on the gi-ound in alpine situations. — Distr. 

 Known only from one of the X. Grampians, Scotland. — B. M. : Cairn- 

 gorm, Banffshire. 



Yar. /3. cincinnata Xyl. Syn. i. (1860) p. 282 ; Flora, 1869, p. 244. 

 — Thallus prostrate, sarmentose, intricate, unequally compressed, 

 thickened, impresso-laeunose, remotely branched, pale greenish 



p 



