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of old podetia, dying at the base and increasing in length at the top, 30-200 

 mm. long and. 7-3 mm. in diameter, subcylindrical and cupless, subdicho- 

 tomously or subradiately branched, the short branches usually unilaterally 

 deflexed and their axils somewhat dilated and frequently perforate, erect or 

 rarely ascending or even decumbent, clustered or often confusingly subsoli- 

 tar}^ among other lichens, grayish or grayish-brown, the apices subulate and 

 f urcellate, the sterile ones commonly nutant and often brownish. Apothecia 

 small, .5-2 mm. in diameter, corymbose, solitary oi: clustered -at the apices 

 of the branches, immarginate, convex, the disk commonly brown. Hypo- 

 thecium colorless or the sub-hymenial portion brownish. Hymenium brown 

 above and pale-brownish below. Paraphyses usually simple, thickened at 

 the pale or brownish apex. Asci cylindrico-clavate, the apical wall thick- 

 ened, (Fig. I.) 



The plant grows on earth and over rocks covered by more or less humus. 

 It also occurs in a degenerate condition on old wood. It is our largest 

 CUidonia, single clusters being often three feet in diameter and standing a 

 foot high in the most favorable habitats in northern regions. This lichen is 

 known in nearly every part of all the continents. 

 Ci.ADONiA svL\-ATicA (L.) Hoffm. Deutschl. Fl. 114. 1796. 



Primary thallus rarely developed, when present crustaceous, delicate 

 and composed of subglobose scattered or clustered verrucae, which are 

 .12-.4S mm. in diameter, straw-gold colored and destitute of a cortical layer. 

 Podetia without cortex, commonly formed from branches of old or dying 

 podetiaor rarely arising from the verrucae of the primary thallus, dying at the 

 base and increasing in length at the top, 30-150 mm. long and. 5-4. 5 mm. in 

 diameter, cylindrical or subcylindrical, cupless, frequently somewhat dilated 

 in the axils which are often perforate, dichotomously or finally sympodially 

 or radiately branched, one or two radii becoming larger and erect, the 

 others short and usually unilaterally or irregularly fasciculate and deflexed, 

 the tipper branches not much shortened and forming loose clusters, growing 

 in dense clusters or subsolitary among other lichens and mosses, erect or 

 rarely ascending or decumbent, often minutely webby-tomentose, whitish 

 or yellow-straw-colored, or light sea-green, apices subulate and very 

 minutely radiate or furcate spinous, the upper sterile ones often more or 

 less nutant and especially these upper ones frequently brown or brownish. 

 Apothecia small, .5-1.2 mm. in diameter, arranged in corymbs, solitary or 

 clustered at the apices of the branches, having at first a very thin margin 

 and finally immarginate, convex or depressed convex, the disk brown. 

 Hypothecium almost colorless or ^the subhymenial portion brownish. 

 Hymenium brownish above and pale or pale-brownish below. Paraphyses 

 usually simple, somewhat thickened at the pale or brownish apex. Asci 

 clavate with walls thickened at the apex. (Fig. 2). 



This lichen grows with the last and is very closely related to it. The 

 American and foreign distribution of the two is about the same, and they 

 are found growing in the same clusters in a most confusing way. How- 

 ever, the first plant described is somewhat larger as a rule, the branching is 



v 



