URCEOLARIA. 



233 



flattish, blacky — younger greyish-pruinose, then naked, with 

 a thin, at length discrete, entire, proper margin; thalline 

 border somewhat prominent, entire or rugose-crenate. The 

 thallus is sometimes continuous or very slightly rimulose ; 

 the areolae discrete, and the apothecia isolated or crowded, 

 and punctiform. (E. B. 820, var. concreta, subvar. multi- 

 jouncta.) 



Not uncommon on rocks and stones, especially calcareous 

 ones (hence its name), in lowland and subalpine districts, as 

 on the Silurian rocks of the Malvern Hills. In some locali- 

 ties it is so peculiar to limestone rocks, that it might almost 

 be considered diagnostic. In Wales, Shetland, and other 

 parts of Britain, it has been used by the peasantry to yield 

 a scarlet dye. We have found several of the Urceolarias to 

 resemble the tartareous Lecanoras in their colorific proper- 

 ties, yielding like them fine qualities of orchill. The Le- 

 canora tartarea, as formerly collected in the Western High- 

 lands for Cudbear-making, was frequently mixed with this 

 species."* 



* For observations on the minute anatomy of Urceolaria, vide Dr. Schuch- 

 ardt in ' Botanische Zeitung/ March 2nd, 1855, * Zur Kenntniss der Gat- 

 tungen Urceolaria nnd Lecidea. 5 



