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Herbarium — Part 1

Vegetative organs (thallus).--Leaf-like, not gelatinous when moist. Pale green or straw-coloured above, blackening below, appressed, the margin sometimes ascendant; cartilaginous, membranaceous, the lobes mostly rather narrow sub-linear and much divided, smooth, not wrinkled, the centre often bearing little stalked bodies with knobs (isidiophorous).

Fruiting organs (apothecia).--Disks chestnut; margin (thalline exciple) entire.

Spores.--Ellipsoid, simple, colourless.

Name.--The specific name conspersa, besprinkled, refers to its surface which looks as if sprinkled with little grains.

Parmelia physodes, (L.) Ach.--See Plate V.

Habit and habitat.--Common on dead limbs of pines and hemlocks, lightly attached to its support. When it completely encircles the smaller twigs the tree has a particularly attractive appearance.

Vegetative organs (thallus).--Gray-green above with finely cut, inflated lobes, usually overlapping; black beneath except at the margins where it is smooth and brown.

Fruiting organs (apothecia).--Large shallow cups; reddish-brown with entire margins.

Name.--The specific name physodes is from the Greek , bellows, and, like, and refers to the inflated character of the lobes.

NOTE: The illustration shows a variety (vittata) with the thallus more narrowly dissected than in the species.

Parmelia saxatilis, (L.) Fr.--See Plate XV.

Habit and habitat.--On rocks.

Vegetative organs (thallus).--Greenish or ashen-gray above (sometimes reddish) somewhat ornamented with a fine network and with shallow depressions; black beneath with dense hairs (rhizoids) reaching the margin, much cleft with narrow lobes, with margins wavy and bordered with a fine white beading (soredia).

Fruiting organs (apothecia).--Chestnut border (thalline exciple), rather thick, somewhat evenly notched.

Spores.--Simple, ellipsoid, colourless.

Name.--The specific name saxatilis, the Latin for "rock," refers to the habitat.

Parmelia perlata, (L.) Ach.--See Plate VI.

Habit and habitat.--The lichen is found on both rocks and trees.

Vegetative organs (thallus).--Greenish-yellow, gray green, slate colour and even light brown above; black beneath with a reddish-brown border which rolls up so as to bring the brown lobes in rich contrast to the surface colours. The lobes have no fine hairs on their margins and are frequently covered with a white powder (soredia).

Fruiting organs (apothecia).--Large, greenish-brown, entire margins which split down to the centre when the disk is mature.

Name.--The specific name perlata is the Latin for "widely spread."

The Wrinkled Parmelia, Parmelia caperata, (L.) Ach.

Habit and habitat.--Grows on trees and rocks to form light pea-green, wrinkled and wavy mats.

Vegetative organs (thallus).--Leaf-like, appressed, horizontal, cartilaginous; lobes usually broad and rounded with entire margins; the upper surface usually covered with a very light green powder (soredia); the under surface, black with a reddish-brown margin and scattered thread-like bodies (fibrils).

Fruiting organs (apothecia).--Cup-shaped, with wavy margins often grainy (sorediferous).

Spores.--Ellipsoid.

Name.--The specific name caperata, the Latin for "wrinkled," describes the habit of growth.

Genus PHYSCIA, Fries.

The vegetative portion (thallus) of the Genus Physcia is leaf like, star-like, or sometimes with narrowly linear divisions, beneath it has usual fibres of varying length; the generic name is from the Greek a blister, evidently referring to the inflated appearance of the thallus in some species.

The fruiting portion (apothecia) are shield-shaped, with the surface often covered with a whitish powder:

The spores are elliptical, brown, two-celled in our species.

Physcia leucomela, (L.) Michx.-See Colour Plate VIII.

Habit and habitat.-On trees, most common southward.

Vegetative organs (thallus).-Ascendant and elongated, mostly smooth, often narrowly linear, the densely entangled lobes irregularly divided; beneath white, the margins beset with strong, branched blackish fibrils.

Fruiting organs (apothecia).-Medium-sized, on short pedicels, the disk white, powdery, the border lobed; the spores are bilocular.

Name.-From the Greek, white, and, black, referring to the strong contrast between fibrils and surface.

Genus UMBILICARIA, Hoffm.

Thallus horizontal, leaf-like (foliaceous), scarcely divided, leathery; either smooth or fibrillose beneath, attached to its support by a single point.

Fruits (apothecia) black, round, convex or sometimes irregular in outline.

Spores somewhat coloured, ellipsoid, either without cross-walls or with both horizontal and vertical walls.

The generic name is from the Latin umbilicus, a navel, referring to the single point at which the thallus is attached to its support.

The Blistered Umbilicaria, Umbilicaria pustulata, (L.) Hoffm.

Habit and habitat.-On rocks in dry localities.

Vegetative organs (thallus).-Horizontal and leaf-like, cartilaginous; ash-coloured above, whitish toward the centre, pale brownish or ash-coloured below; smooth on both surfaces, often covered with a white powder (pruinose), with numerous pustular protusions above and corresponding indentations below.

Fruiting organs (apothecia).-Somewhat shield-like.

Name.-The specific name pustulata is the Latin for "blistered" and refers to the protusions on the thallus.

Rock Tripe, Umbilicaria vellea, (L.) Nyl.-See Colour Plate XI.

Habit and habitat.-On rocks in high mountains.

Vegetative organs (thallus).-Large, one-leaved, leathery and somewhat smooth, ash-coloured with a bloom above; brownish to black, and hairy, below.

Fruiting organs (apothecia)-Small, appressed, orbicular and plaited, becoming convex.

Name.-From the Latin vellus, fleece, referring to the hairy nature of the under surface.