CLADONIA. 



267 



first cartilaginous, verruculose, rarely squamulose, becoming 

 above sulphureous-pulverulent. Scyphi dilated, very proli- 

 ferous. Cylindrical podetia very rare. 



A very common and very pretty species, growing on the 

 ground on heaths and hills in lowland and subalpine dis- 

 tricts. It is more familiar under its old names, C. coccifera 

 and C. comucopioides. Its bright vermilion-red tubercles 

 generally spring from the diaphragm of the scyphi. Its sper- 

 mogones resemble those of C. alcicornis and C. rangiferina 

 in their internal structure; but, in form, colour, and con- 

 sistence, they are not unlike the perithecia of certain Sphse- 

 rias ; they are seated on the margins of the scyphi. This is 

 probably the " Red Cup-moss " of which Mrs. Hemans sings 

 in the following stanza : — 



" Oh ! green is the turf where my brothers play 

 Through the long bright hours of the summer day ; 

 They find the red cup-moss where they climb, 

 And they chase the bee o'er the scented thyme." 



It occurs in the Antarctic regions, and is otherwise some- 

 what widely distributed. It appears to contain a small 

 quantity of gummy and starchy matter ; hence it has been 

 used, boiled in milk or syrup, in hooping-cough and other 

 chest affections in children. In Thuringia a decoction has 

 been used in the treatment of intermittent fevers. 



