V E R 



V E 11 



ceptacles minute, black, hemifpherical, umbilicated. — Found 

 by Mr. W. Borrer, on the fmooth bark of afh-trces. 



V. analepta. Ach. n. 2. ( Lichen analcptus ; Engl. Bot. 

 t. 1848.) — Differs from the foregoing chiefly in the central 

 deprefllon of the receptacles being more minute. 



V. gemmata. Ach. n. 12. Meth. 120. t. 3. f. 1. (V. 

 melaleuca; ibid. 117. V. alba; Schrad. Spicil. 109. t. 2. 

 f. 3.) — Cruft undefined, thin, fmooth, of a hoary white. 

 Receptacles fcattered, hemifpherical, polifhed, beaked ; nu- 

 cleus globular, pellucid. — Found on the barks of the taller 

 kinds of t.-ees. Achar'ws. Mr. D. Turner has met with 

 this fpecies in England. The black and (hining prominent 

 receptacles are ftrongly contrafted with tlie white, fomewhat 

 mealy, cruft. 



Seft. 2. Frond rather folid, more or lefs gelatinous. Three 

 fpecies. 



V.mucofa. Ach. n. 22. Meth. fuppl. 23. " Wahlenb. 

 Lapp. 466." — Cruft gelatinous and flimy, very fmooth, 

 blackifti-green. Receptacles minute, nearly globular, funk, 

 with a prominent beak ; dirty white internally. — Found by 

 Mr. Wahlenberg, on rocks and ftones wafhed by the moun- 

 tain ftreams of Lapland and Sweden. When dry it is hard 

 and almoft black, but moifture reftores the crujl to a flimy 

 ftate, and the fruSification is vifible, in botli ftates, to a 

 careful obferver. 



The other fpecies of this feftion are named gelatinofa and 

 ceuthocarpa. 



Seft. 3. CruJl fomeiuhat tarfareous and friable, uninterrupted, 

 cracking into fmall portions, or powdery. Seventeen fpecies. 



V.Schraderl. Ach. n. 25. Meth. 114. (V. rupeftris; 

 Schrad. Spicil. 109. t. 2. f. 7. Lichen Schraderi ; Engl. 

 Bot. t. 17 II. L.immerfus ; Hoff'm. Enum. Lich. 24. t. 3. 

 f. 5. L. fufco-ater /3; Hag. Lich. 49.) — Cruft tartareous, 

 hard, whitifli, fmooth. Receptacles minute, crowded, nearly 

 globular, umbilicated, funk ; femitranfparent within. — This 

 is often to be feen on chalk or lime-ftone. The cavities in 

 the very hard cru/l, feem formed by the growth of the recep- 

 tacles, and remain empty and unclofed after the latter fall 

 out ; juft as happens in the true Lichen immerfus, or Lecidea 

 immerfa. In this ftate our prefent Verrucaria muy fre- 

 quently be obferved, on wrought ftones in expofed fitua- 

 tions ; its hard cruJl being fcarcely diftinguiftiable from the 

 ftone, except by its internal green hue when rubbed. 



V. Harrimanni. Ach. n. 26. Lichenogr. v. i. 284. 

 (Lichen Harrimanni; Engl. Bot. t. 2539.) — Cruft tarta- 

 reous, contiguous, limited, moufe-coloured, with very mi- 

 nute deprefted dots. Receptacles minute, immerfed, globofe, 

 with a prominent bordered orifice ; brownifti within. — Native 

 of hard, grey, calcareous rocks, in the county of Durham, 

 where it was difcovered by the Rev. Mr. Harriman, a very 

 ftdlful Britifti botanift. The cruft of this is thicker, with a 

 more defined black edge than ufual in Verrucaria, yet it 

 cannot be feparated in any entire portions from the ftone. 

 The dotted furface is peculiar. The dilated rim of each 

 receptacle is all that is vifible of the fruftification. 



V. maura. Ach. n. ^6. Meth. fuppl. 19. (Lichen 

 maurus ; Engl. Bot. t. 2456.) — Cruft thin, continued, im- 

 perfeftly circumfcribed, coal-black, fmooth, with innumer- 

 able minute cracks. Receptacles black, immerfed, fwelling 

 under the cruft, marked by an umbiUcated point ; nucleus 

 blackifh. — Mr. W. Borrer has noticed this frequently on 

 rocks on the Scottifti coaft, and his fpecimens agree with 

 thofe fcnt by Mr. Wahlenberg, the original difcoverer of 

 the prefent fpecies, on the rocky ftiores of Sweden. It 

 compofes footy infeparable blotches, on ftones expofed to 

 the flux and reflux of the tide ; but when examined, will be 

 found as diftinft in charaftcrs as any of its tribe. 



Seft. 4. CruJl foft, Jibrous, fomeiuhat fpongy, or like a 

 thin cobweb. Four fpecies. 



V . epigea. Ach. n. 43. Meth. 123. ( Spha;ria epigaea ; 

 Perf. Syn. Fung, append. 27. Lichen terreilris ; Engl. 

 Bot. t. 1681.) — Cruft fomewhat fibrous, gelatinous, un- 

 even, pale greenifli-grey. Rtceptacles minute, globofe, 

 immerfed, with a prominent orifice ; internally black. — Not 

 unfrequent on earthy or muddy banks. When dry the cru^ 

 is fmooth and even, without any fign of the fibrous texture, 

 which becomes vifible on the admiflion of wet. The recep- 

 tacles are fcattered like little black dots over the furface, 

 being moft prominent in a dry ftate. 



V . byffacea. Ach. n. 45. Meth. 116. ( Sphseria byf- 

 facea ; Weigel Obf. Bot. 42. t. 2. f. 9. Perf. Sj-n. Fung. 

 append. 27. ) — Cruil fomewhat leprous and fibrous, dirty 

 white. Receptacles minute, nearly globular, half immerfed, 

 perforated ; black within. — On the trunks of old oaks, and 

 other trees. This feems to be a very doubtful Verrucaria. 

 We have never examined it, but the cru^ is defcribed more 

 of a leprous tlian fibrous texture, refembling Byjfus ladea 

 of Linnaeus. Receptacles full of black powder. It is one 

 of thofe ambiguous produftions, partly allied to the Liclunes, 

 partly to the Fungi, which the ftudents of each tribe prefs 

 into their own fervice. From an attention to the fibrous 

 bafes of fome oxher Spharia, we ftiouldinchne to think this 

 3^ fungus, efpecially if the receptacles be really full of powder : 

 but on the other hand, the mealinefs of the cruJl is much 

 more of the nature of the genus under confideration. Acha- 

 rius now confiders as a variety of this, his V. JliHica, 

 Meth. 118; and indeed they appear very nearly akin. 



VERRUCINI, in Jncient Geography, a people of the 

 Maritime Alps, N.W. of the Sueltari, mentioned by Pliny. 

 They are placed at Verignon. 



VERRUCOLA, La, in Geography, a town of Etruria; 

 4 miles E. of Pifa. 



VERRUCOSUS, Warty, in Botany and Vegetable Phy- 

 ftology, is a term applied to any part of the furface of a 

 plant when furniftied with fcattered protuberances from its 

 own fubftancc. Euonymus •uerriuofus of Scopoli and Jac- 

 quin has a warty bark. The young branches are firft be- 

 fprinkled with little black fliining oblong fpecks, which 

 foon enlarge, crack longitudinally, and become tumid rough 

 warts, having much more of the appearance of a parafitical 

 fungus, than many produftions that are fo denominated. In 

 Aloe perlata the cuticle of the leaves is ftudded with hard 

 cartilaginous fmooth warts, exhibiting a moft genuine ex- 

 ample of z. folium •verrucofum. So in Echium, feveral fpecies 

 bear hard, almoft bony or ftielly, warts, fometimes elegantly 

 ftellated, from which the briftly clothing of the herbage 

 originates. Thefe are all lefs ftrong and remarkable, the 

 more luxuriant the plant. The papillary coat of the Ice- 

 plant, Mefembryanthemum cryftallinum, can fcarcely come 

 under the above denomination ; being an aftemblage of cu- 

 ticular bladders full of a watery fluid, without any cuticular 

 or flelhy folidity. 



VERRUYE, in Geography, a town of France, in the 

 department of the Two Sevres; 7 miles N.N.W. of St. 

 Maixens. 



VY.RRY,m Heraldry. See Vairy. 



VERS du Gard, in Geography, a town of France, in 

 the department of the Gard ; 6 miles S.E. of Uzes. 



Vers en Montagne, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Jura ; 18 miles N.E. of Lons le Saunier. 



VERSA. SseVicKVerfd. 



VERSAILLES, in Geography, a city of France, and 



capital of the department of the Seine and Oife. In the 



beginning of the laft century, it was a fmall village, when 



II Louis 



