TilEMELLA. 



pofed wrought wood; in roundifh or oblong, tumid, finuous 

 maffes, various in length from a quarter to an inch, not un- 

 like mulberries, but coal-black ; their infide only is of a 

 rich deep purple, and the centre is attached by a ftrong 

 root. The plant communicates a violet ftain to whatever it 

 touches in drying. 



i:.farcoicks. Flefhy Tremella. With", v. 4. 78. Engl. 

 Bot. t. 2450. (T. amethyftea; Bulliard Fung. v. i. 229. 

 t. 499. f. 5. With. V. 4. 82. Helvella farcoides ; Dickf. 

 Crypt. V. I. 21. Bolt. Fung. v. 3. loi. t. loi. f. 2. Li- 

 chen farcoides; Jacq. Mifc. v. 2: 378. t. 22. Elvela pur- 

 purea; Schsff. Fung. v. 4. 114. t. 323, 324.)— Seffile, 

 gelatinous, reddifh-purple ; at firft club-fhaped ; then 

 rounded, lobed, plaited or curled ; finally blackifli — Found 

 on rotten wood, in damp fhady fituations, during the au- 

 tumn. Perfoon has confounded with this Tremella his Peziza 

 farcoides, the tremelloidea of Bulliard, t. 410. f. I, \vhich we 

 believe to be a real Peziza. Our prefent Tremella is much 

 more variable in figure, clu'o-fhaped at firfl, then turbinate, 

 or funnel-fhaped, varioufly rounded or lobed, in denfe tufts. 

 The colour is nearly uniform, a vinous purple, turning black 

 in decay ; the fubftance is internally gelatinous and femi- 

 pellucid, with a toughifh elaftic (kin. The plant has httle 

 tafte or fmell ; nothing of the fungus nature. 



T. ve/icaria. Bladder Tremella. (BuUiard Fung. v. i. 

 224. t. 427. f. 3. Engl. Bot. t. 2451.) — Membranous, 

 fomewhat rigid, brownifh-white, pouch-like, filled with 



vifcid evanefcent jelly Found by the late Mr. Jacob Rayer, 



near Maidftone, Kent. BuUiard fpeaks of it as very rare. 

 It always grows on the ground, folitary or in tufts, at- 

 tached by fibrous radicles. When young, the plant is a 

 turgid, firm, but elaftic, bag, full of vifcid jelly, and 

 nearly upright, from one to three inches high. The jelly 

 in time efcapes, by a rupture in the bag, which coUapfes, 

 and looks like a frefh bladder, juft emptied. From its ori- 

 ginal dirty white, it changes in decay to a reddi(h-brown ; 

 the infide being always brownifh. Bulliard mentions a green 

 variety. 



T. faccida. Pendulous Black Tremella. Engl. Bot. 

 t. 2452. — Membranous, thin, flaccid and pendulous, very 

 black ; externally opaque and roughifh ; internally corru- 

 gated. — Found by Mr. Sowerby on the perpendicular trunk 

 of a living oak in Peterfliam park. Several fpecimeiis, two 

 or three inches long, grew one above another, pendulous, in 

 a bell-fhaped manner, fo that the outer furface, naturally in- 

 ferior, became uppermoft, and when frefh refembled black 

 crape in colour and roughnefs ; the concave part being 

 paler, fmooth and (hining, marked with coarfe reticulated 

 veins. This fpecies, except its pofition, feems moft akin 

 to Bulliard's fuppofed variety of his Peziza nigra, v. i. 

 238. t. 116, which we cannot conceive to belong to his 

 t. 460. f. I. 



T. Auricula. Jew's-ear Tremella. Linn. Sp. PI. 1625. 

 Perf. n. 9. Bulliard Fung. t. 427. f. 2. Engl. Bot. t. 2447. 

 (Peziza Auricula; BuUiard Fung. v. i. 241. Agaricum 

 auriculae forma; Mich. Gen. 124. t. 66. f. i.) — Seffile, 

 leathery, reddifh-brown ; rough beneath ; rugged and plaited 

 above, refembling an ear. — Not rare upon rotten elder-trees. 

 Perfoon fays he never found this fpecies in any other fitua- 

 tion. It forms large tufts of irregularly plaited and convo- 

 luted flefhy cups, of a fcmi-tranfparent reddifh-brown ; the 

 inner or upper furface paleft, fmooth and fhining ; the outer 

 darkeft, opaque and roughifh. The plaits branch from the 

 middle, fo as to convey an idea of the human ear ; whether 

 Jewifh, Pagan, or Chriflian, depends on the complexion or 

 tleanlinefs of the prototype. BuUiard afferts the feeds to 

 be difcharged from the upper furface entirely. If this 



be correft, he is juftified in transferring the plant ta 

 Petiza. 



T. arborea. Witches'-butter Tremella. Hudf. 563. 

 Engl. Bot. t. 2448. (T. fpiculofa ; Perf. n. 8. T. glan- 

 dulofa ; BuUiard Fung. v. i. 220. t. 420. f. 1. T. arborea 

 nigricans, minims pinguis et fugax ; Dill. Mufc. 54. t. 10. 

 f. 15.) — Seffile, gelatinous, roundifh, undulated, blackifh, 

 befet with mammiUary white-headed proceffes on tlie upper 



fide Common in autumn and winter on the decayed trunks 



of trees, and dead flicks, efpecially the Alder. The Eng- 

 lifh name, according to Dillenius, arofe from the plant being 

 fuppofed efficacious againll witchcraft, when thrown into 

 the fire. It confifts of roundifh, unequal, lobed, indeter- 

 minate maffes, moft corrugated beneath, fcarcely elevated 

 on any ftalk, of a brown pulpy fubftance, becoming darker 

 by age, from two lines to half an inch thick ; the upper 

 fide bearing fhort fcattered black prominences, each with a 

 little white head. 



T. boktiformis. Brown Rough-backed TremcUa. Engl. 

 Bot. t. 1819. — Nearly feffile, fcattered, roundifli, depreifed, 

 brown ; fmooth and fhining above ; rough and dotted be- 

 neath. — Found fcattered over^the dead branches of trees; 

 in SufTex by Mr. W. Borrer, and in Norfolk by Mr. W. J. 

 Hooker. Each plant is nearly feffile, irregularly orbicular, 

 depreffed, all over of a dull pale umber-brown ; unequal, 

 fmooth and polifhed above ; rough with prominent points 

 beneath, whence the edges feem crenate. The diameter is 

 from half an inch to an inch. 



T. albida. Whitifh TremeUa. Hudf. 565. EngL 

 Bot. t. 21 17. (T. Candida ; Perf. n. 7 ? T. cerebrina; 

 BuUiard Fung. v. I. 221. t. 386.) — Seffile, dilated, ob- 

 tufe, whitifh or fomewhat brownifh, pulpy, femi-pellucid. 

 — Found on dead or rotten wood, in fliady fituations, 

 burfting through cracks in the bark, and compofing hori- 

 zontal, rounded, convoluted maffes, white and extremely 

 tender, often very like the brain of an animal. Bulliard 

 fays, a plate of glafs, on which the plant is laid, becomes 

 covered with its powdery feeds. Such Mr. Sowerby found 

 imbedded in the fubftance of the frond, forming round 

 black maffes. This fhould make it an Ulva. There are 

 yellow, brown, or blackifh varieties. The whole require 

 further inveftigation. 



T. NoPc. Ground TremeUa. Linn. Sp. PI. 1625, 

 Hudf. 564. Engl. Bot. t. 461. (T. terreftris finuofa, 

 pinguis et fugax ; Dill. Mufc. 52. t. 10. f. 14. Ulva terreftris 

 pinguis et fugax ; Dill, in Raii Syn. 64.) — Seffile, roundifh, 

 plaited, waved, of an olive-green. — This much controverted 

 plant occurs after rainy weather in fummer, on gravel walks, 

 or in graffy paftures, growing flightly attached to the 

 ground. It generally fpreads two or three inches, being 

 of a tender gelatinous fubftance, thin and fmooth, varioufly 

 dilated and tumid, of a dull olive-green. When young, it 

 is faid by Dillenius to be fmall and globular, or like little 

 fcales ; but its growth is very rapid, and its exiftence ffiort. 

 We are not fure that it revives after being fhrivelled and 

 blackened by dry weather. The duration of the plant is 

 therefore, in the ftrifteft fenfe, annual, and yet we do not 

 know any thing of the feeds. Roth, Perfoon, and others 

 efteem it an Ulva, an opinion we cannot refute, if we are 

 unable to confirm it. The moft remarkable circumftances in 

 the hiilory of this vegetable, are its being millaken by the 

 vulgar for the remains of a Will-of-the-wifp, or fallen ftar; 

 and by fome philofophers for an animal produftion. The 

 latter have been deceived by a fimilar fubilance, proved by 

 Dr. Withering to be the remains of frozen frogs, or as fonie 

 fay, the fkin and bones of thofe animals difgorged by herons. 

 Whether thefe or the real plant were the objeft of examina- 

 tion 



