59 



however keeps its small tips lying close against the bark or 

 wood, and so should not cause confusion. 



Evernia Cladonia. Antler Lichen. 



Also called Parmelia Cladonia or Evernia ceralodes var. 

 Cladonia. This Tuckerman considered a variety of E.furfuracea, 

 but its typical forms look very different, resembling at first 

 glance the Reindeer Mosses. It grows gracefully and profusely 

 on branches and twigs of trees high in the Catskills, intermingled 

 with Parmelia physodes. The growth, somewhat like a deer's 

 antler, spreads and rises 3 to 4 cm. from the holdfast. On the 

 main stalks, which are about 1 mm. in thickness, smooth and 

 at times nearly round, a careful search will always show por- 

 tions flattened and grooved with characteristic pale or blacken- 

 ing under-surface as in E. furfuracea, but rarely will any teeth, 

 granules or coral-like growths be seen. Tips may be sharp 

 pointed or more or less flattened. The general color is gray, 

 but there may be a greenish tinge. All these characters vary 

 enough so that occasional forms might be called either E. 

 Cladonia or E. furfuracea. Fruits and spores, indistinguishable 

 from those of E. furfuracea, are equally rare. 



Evernia Cladonia can hardly be confused with any other 

 lichen. The upward-pointing, smooth and often rounded branches 

 distinguish it from E. prunastri, the presence of differently 

 colored under-surface from Ramalina. From Cladonia furcata 

 and C. rangiferina, which it resembles slightly, but which grow 

 on the ground, it can always be distinguished by the fact that 

 it grows only on trees and w^ood. 



Physcia leucomela. Black-and-White Lichen. 



Also called Physcia leucomelaena or Anaptychia leucomela. It 

 is unlikely that this southern species will be found in the New 

 York area, yet it has been collected as far north as Albany, and 

 may be again. Its dense, tangled tufts, as much as 10 cm. across, 

 may be looked for on tree-bark, where, except for color, they 

 suggest Usnea. The whitish or gray stalks, however, with 

 straggling black hairs along their edges, distinguish it at once. 

 There is a definite white under side to the flattened stalks, with 

 a suspicion of down on it, and the edges curl downward. There 

 is a tendency, rare in lichens, for the hairs to stand nearly 



