290 PYBENOCABPEI [VEREnCAKlA 



mersed in the areolse, the ostiole nearly plane or depressed, 

 scarcely visible ; perithecial wall pale-brownish-coloured ; spores 

 8 ia the ascus, oblong-ellipsoid, simple, then occasionally becoming 

 1-septate, 0,011-16 mm. long, 0,004-6 mm. thick. — Mudd Man. 

 p. 288 (excl. var. glaucina) ; Gromb. Lich. Brit. p. Ill ; Leight. 

 Lich. Fl. p. 422 ; ed. 3, p. 4-53. Lichen fuscellus Turn, in Trans. 

 Linn. Soc. vii. p. 90, t. 8, fig. 2 (1804); Engl. Bot. t. 1500. 

 Endocarpon fuscellum Ach. tom. cit. p. 675 ; Hook, in Sm. 

 Engl. Fl. V. p. 159 (excl. syn. E. iephroldes var. polytheciutu) ; 

 Tayl. in Mackay Fl. Hib. ii. p. 101. Sagedia fuscella Fr. Lich. 

 Eur. p. 413 (1831) ; Leight. Angioc. Lich. p. 22, t. 7, fig. 2. 

 Exsicc. Mudd n. 276. 



Differs from the preceding in the brown thallus and in the lighter- 

 coloured perithecia. The spores sometimes become distinctly 2-ceUed, 

 suggesting affinity with the genus TheKdium, but in many specimens 

 they remain constantly simple, and on that account it has been 

 retained among the Vernicarice. 



Hah. On calcareous rocks, mortar of old walls, &c. — IHstr. Earc 

 in the Channel Islands, S. and N. England, N. Wales, Central Scot- 

 land and S."\V. Ireland. — B. M. Boulay Bay and Trinity, Jersey ; 

 Eustington, Sussex ; Eaton, Berks ; near Oswestry and Llanyinyneoh, 

 Shropshire ; near Yarmouth ; near Stanhope, Durham ; Ireland. 



Thallus membranaceous, continuous, smooth. 



32. V. maculiformis Krempelh. in Flora xli. p. 303 (1858).— 

 Thallus very thin, olive-brown or blackish, forming small spots 

 on the stone, which are often confluent. Perithecia small, semi- 

 immersed, subglobose, becoming slightly depressed round the 

 minute ostiole, black and shining ; perithecial waU dimidiate ; 

 spores ellipsoid, 0,014-24 mm. long, 0,006-010 mm. thick. 



Distinguished by the thin ohvaceous thaUus and the numerous 

 shining black perithecia. 



Hab. On calcareous rocks, flints, &c. — Distr. Eare in S., Central and 

 N. England.— B. M. Near Cirencester, Gloucestershire ; Norton near 

 Worcester ; below Cader Idris, Merioneth ; Cailton and near -\yton, 

 Cleveland, Yorkshire ; Hartlepool, Durham. 



33. V. mutabilis Borr. ex Leight. Angioc. Ldch. p. 55, t. 24, 

 fig. 3 (1851) (excl. syn.). — Thallus dark-brown, like an oily stain, 

 thin, filmy, membranaceous, continuous, smooth, subdeterminate 

 or efiiise, often nearly evanescent. Perithecia brownish-black, 

 minute, scattered, prominent, hemispherical, sometimes polished 

 and shining, internally pale ; perithecial wall dimidiate ; spores 

 oblong, small, 0,008-012 mm. long, 0,005-7 mm. thick.— Mudd 

 Man. p. 293 (excl. syn.); Leight. Lich. Fl. p. 418; ed. 3, 

 p. 448. 



Has been confused with other forms on account of the variable 

 thaUus. The thaUus is thin and almost evanescent in the British 

 Museum specimen. 



Hab. On rooks, stones and pebbles. — B. M. Mayfield, Sussex. 



