226 GRAPHIDKI [mELASPILKA 



margin iiillcxed ; asci clavate, 8-sporcfl ; spores linear-oblong, 

 often Slightly constricted in the middle, dark-brown or nearly 

 blackish, 0,015-23 mm. long, 0,008-12 mm. thick; hymenial 

 gelatine bluish with iodine. — Opc(p-apha cerchrina DC. Fl. Fr. ii. 

 p. 312 (1805); Borr. Engl. Bot.' .Suppl. t. 2632, f . 1 ; Hook, in 

 Sm. Engl. Fl. V. p. 146; Leight. in Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, 

 xiii. p. 88, t. 5, f. 2 (1854) ; Cromb. Lich. Brit. p. 100. Melano- 

 spora cerehrina Mudd Man. p. 226, t. 4, f. 88 (1861). Litho- 

 (jrapha cerehrina Leight. Lich. Fl. p. 361 (1871); ed. 3, p. 394. 



Hah. On calcareoas rocks in hilly districts. — Distr. With cer- 

 tainty only in N. England and S.W. Ireland. — B. M. Penhill, York- 

 shire ; Teesdale, Durham; Whitbarrow, Cumberland; Dunkerron, 

 Kerry. 



89. MELASPILEA Nyl. in Act. Soc Linn. Bord. ser. 3, i. 

 p. 416 (1856). Stictographa Mudd Man. p. 226 (1861), pro parte. 

 (PI. 26.) 



Thallus thin, sometimes developed below the bark (hypo- 

 phloiodal) or wanting. Algal cells Trentepohlia. Apothecia 

 black and carbonaceous, superficial or immersed, roundish or 

 elongate, simple or shortly branched, with a proper margin 

 only ; disc narrow or flattened ; hypothecium colourless or dark- 

 coloured ; paraphyses slender, free ; asci elongate or narrowly 

 clavate, 8-spored ; spores ellipsoid, fusiform, or ovate, colourless, 

 becoming brown, usually 1 -septate. Spermogones with simple 

 sterigmata and straight spermatia. 



1. M. lentiginosa A. Zahlbr. in Engler & Prantl Nat. Pflan- 

 zenf. i. 1*, p. 96 (1903). — Thallus thin, smooth, cream-coloured, 

 limited by a brownish-black line. Apothecia very small, black, 

 sessile, oblong or linear, slender, straight, simple ; margins tumid, 

 incurved ; disc very narrow ; asci clavate ; spores irregularly 

 obovate, unequally 2-celled, pale brown, 0,015-16 mm. long, 

 0,006-7 mm. thick. — Opegrapha lentiginosa Lyell ex Leight. in 

 Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, xiii. p. 211, t. 6, f. 16 (1854). 

 Carroll in Journ. Bot. iii. p. 291 (1865) ; Cromb. Lich. Brit, 

 p. 100; Leight. Lich. Fl. p. 372; ed. 3, p. 395. Stictographa 

 lentiginosa Mudd Man. p. 226, t. 4, f. 89 (1861). 



The thallus forms somewhat extended patches on the bark ; the 

 apothecia are usually numerous and crowded and grow in all 

 directions. 



Hah. On trees. — Distr. Somewhat local, but plentiful where it 

 occurs in S. England and S. Ireland. — B. M. Launceston, Cornwall ; 

 Lustleigh, Devon ; near Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst, New Forest, 

 Hants ; St. Leonard's Forest, Sussex ; Curraghmore, Waterford ; 

 Glenbower Wood and Castle Martyr, near Cork. 



2. M. lentig'inosula A. L. Sm. — Thallus evanescent. Apo- 

 thecia small, black, prominent, elliptical, straight, rarely forked. 



