BRITISH LICHENS

LECIDEA LECIDEACElE 35
Hab. On decayed mosses upon the ground and on boulders in alpinc
situations.-Distr. Extremely local and scarce, having been gathered
only very sparingly in N. England on two of the Grampians, and in the
west of Scotland.-B. JJI. Mardalo, Westmorland, near Killin; above
Loch·na·Gat and near the summit of Ben Lawers, Perthshire; near the
summit of Ben·naboorcl, Braemar, Aberdeenshire; near Aviemore,
Invernessshire.
Subsp. minor Nyl. ex Norrl. in Not. Siillsk. Faun. & Fl. Fenn.
n. ser. xlii. 335 (1873).-Thallus thin or very thin, smoothish or
minutely granulose, whitish or pale-greenish. Apotheeia subminute,
pale brick-red to brown; spores ellipsoid-oblong, 10-20 [Jlong,
4-6 [J. thiek-L. vernalis f. minor Nyl. op. cit. v. 145 (1866);
Cromb. Lieh. Brit. 68; Leight. Lich. Fl. ed. 3, 259. L. conglomerata
Mudd Man. 194 (1861); Leight. Lich. Fl. 260; ed. 3,257.
L. subvemalis Stirton in Grevillea iii. 33 (1874); Leight. Lich. Fl.
ed. 3, 308. Lichen conglomeratns Heyder ex Hoffm. Deutsch!. Fl.
ii. 174 (1795).
Exsicc. Cromb. n. 172; Leight. n. 151; Mudd n. 162 (see Ny!.
in Flora xlvi. 78, as L. vernalis f. corticalis).
Distinguished from the species by the less developed thallus which
at times is subevanescent, by the smaller apothecia and spores and by
the different substratum. The apothecia are often several conglomerate,
and may become dark. brown.
L. subvernalis as described by Stirton agrees in microscopic
characters, but the apothecia, he states, from pale yellow become
bluish or brownish· black. The specimen (from Grantown) has not
been found in his herbarium.
Hab. On the bark of trees in upland wooded districts.-Distr. Seen
from only a few localities in England and the S. Grampians, Scotland.­
B. jJf. Oswestry, Shropshire; Bathford Hill, Somerset; Rodmarton,
Gloucestershire; Yarmouth, Norfolk; Gopsall, Leicestershire; Broad·
was, Worcestershire; Airyholme Wood and Cliffrig, Cleveland and
Ingleby, Yorkshire; Finlarig, Killin, Perthshire; Airds, Appin,
Argyll.
39. L. meiocarpa Ny!. in Flora lix. 577 (1876).-Thalluf!
effuse, very thin, granulose-Ieprose, greyish or greenish-white,
often subevaneseent (K -, CaCI-). ApotheCla minute, convex,
immarginate, pale-yellow, yellow-testaceous or reddish; paraphyses
colourless at the apices; hypotheeium pale; spores oblong.
7-11 [J- long, 3-4 [J. thick; hymenial gelatine wine-red with iodine,
-Cromb. III Grevillea xxii. 10. L. anomaZa var. y minuta Sehrer.
SpiciI. 170 (1833) pro parte. L. rninuta Cromb. Lich. Brit. 68 pro
parte; Leight. Lich. Fl. 266; ed. 3, 264 pro parte. L. effusa Mudd
Man. 195 (1861), (non Sm. Eng!. Bot.).
A rather inconspicuous plant, resembling a diminutive state of
L. vernalis subsp. minor, but differing in the smaller apothecia and
spores. The apothecia are numerous, at times somewhat crowded,
becoming reddish· black in age. Lecidea minuta var. sarcopisioides,
considered as a variety of L. meiocarpa has been referred to Lecanora
sarcopisioides. See Monogr. i. 295.