Ser. RuoposPERMES. Fam. Corallinee. 
Pirate CCCXLVI. 
MELOBESIA LICHENOIDES, Bor. op.) 
Gun. Cuar. Frond attached or free, either flattened, orbicular, sinuated 
or irregularly lobed, or cylindrical and branched (never articulated), 
coated with a calcareous deposit. Fructification: conical, sessile 
ceramidia, scattered over the surface of the frond, and containing a 
tuft of transversely parted, oblong ¢e¢raspores.—Named from one of 
the Sea-nymphs of Hesiod. 
Metosesta JZichenoides; frond attached to rocks, free at the margins, 
foliaceous, lichen-like, variously lobed; foliations spreading, often 
imbricated ; ceramidia large, conical, prominent. 
Me tosesta lichenoides, Harv. Man. ed. 2. p. 109. 
Miutepora lichenoides, Borl. Cornw. p. 239. pl. 24. f. 2, 3,5. Soland. Zoop. 
p- 131. pl. 23. f. 10, 12. 
Has. On rocks and in tide-pools near low-water mark. Coast of Corn- 
wall, Rev. Dr. Borlase. West of Ireland, abundant on the coasts of 
Galway and Clare, W.H.H. Coast of Cork, Dr. Al/man.  (Pro- 
bably common on the W. and S. W. shores.) 
Geroar. Distr. ? 
Descr. Frond thin and foliaceous, stony, spreading over rocks and stones in 
somewhat circular patches; not attached. at the margins, and frequently 
but imperfectly attached in the centre. Many fronds grow together in the 
same patch, and their margins, which are much lobed and somewhat cre- 
nate, lie one over another. The lobes commonly extend in a horizontal 
direction, but sometimes stand erect; the habit varying greatly according 
to the place where the plant grows. Ceramidia large, prominent, obtusely 
conical, scattered, or collected in groups. Ce//s of which the substance is 
composed many times longer than their diameter. When the lime has been 
removed by acid, a thin slice shows a beautifully zoned structure under the 
microscope. Colour varying from dark lurid purple (in deep water) to 
creamy white near high-water mark. Swdstance thin and brittle. 
This is by much the prettiest and most plant-like of the tidal 
Nullipores, strongly resembling in form and general habit one 
of the foliaceous lichens of the genus Parmelia, but differing in 
being of a stony substance ;—thin however as paper, and very 
brittle. It is closely related to MZ. agariciformis, figured in one 
of our early numbers, from which it differs more in general 
