A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE been rich in some of the more common species. Here are found Cetraria aculeata, the black-fruited Verrucaria epigcea, V. nigrescens and V. rupestris. But as soon as we approach the more sylvan portions of the Severn Valley near Worcester, lichens are not only more frequent but more noticeable ; trees, walls, the stone coping of bridges, and wild waysides each yield their quota of lichens, some of them rare, such as Leptogium lacerum, var. pulvinata, L. subtile^ Sphinctrina turbinata, Calicium phceocephalum, C. curium, C. trkhiale, Sticta puhnonaria, Lecidea incompta, L. rosella, the singular parasitical L. Parmeliarum and Opegrapha Turneri. But the richest district in the county is that of the Malvern Hills and the adjacent common lands, where the lichens are numerous and often rare. Here are found the beautiful coral-like Sphc^rophoron com- pressum and S. coralloides, Bceomyces rufus, B. roseus, Stereocaulon nanum, Platysma glaucum, Parmelia saxatilis, var. omphalodes, JJmbilicaria pustulata, Amphiloma lanuginosa, Lecanora ferruginea, L. hamatomma, Lecidea tenebrosa, L. tricolor, L. muscorum, L. truncigena, Opegrapha vulgaris, O. lyncea ; and on the hollies of Holly Bush Hill are several of that curious genus Graphis, as G. elegans, G. scripta, G. horizontalis, G. serpentina, Verrucaria gemmata, V. biformis ; on calcareous rocks, Verrucaria Salweii and Endo- carpon hepaticum. On heathy places on or about the hills the singular family Collema are numerous, such as C. jiaccidum, C. crispum, C. nigrescens, and their allies, Leptogium lacerum, L. tenuissimum ; and on old oaks in Cowleigh Park, Trachylia tigillaris. As we travel farther south to the Avon Valley, the trees are more richly clad in their grey clothing of Lichens ; and in the outlying por- tion of the county — Broadway and the high land about Bredon, where the rocks are capped with oolite, and the fences are of stone from the neighbouring quarries — the lichens are abundant and some of them rare, such as Lecanora calcarea, Verrucaria immersa, V. rupestris, and its variety muralis. In some places the broken rock is curiously stained inky black with the thallus of Pannaria nigra, and in others a yellow tinge prevails from the abundant thallus of Placodium murorum, and now and again on the higher rocks is Lecidea geographica and other more common species. The total lichen flora of Worcestershire is 228 species and varieties, and the following are some of the more rare, not recorded in the fore- going notes : — Leptogium sinuatum, Huds. Parmelia conspeisa, Ehrh. Lecanora epixantha, Ach. — turgidum, Ach. — acetabulum, Neck. Lecidea lucida, Ach. — Schraderi, Bernh. Psoronia hypnorum, Vahl. — canescens, Dicks. Coniocybe furfuracea, Ach. Placodium citrinum, Ach. — Ehrhartiana, Ach. Alectoria jubata, Linn. — candicans, Dicks. — rubella, Ehrh. Peltigera rufescens, HofFm. Lecanora tartarea, Linn. — tantilla, Nyi. Parmelia fuliginosa, Dub. — circinata, Pers. Graphis dendritica, Ach. My principal authorities for the foregoing notes are Mr. E. Lees' Botany of Worcestershire and Malvern ; and Dr. Holl's records in Leigh- ton's Lichen Flora of Great Britain, Ireland and the Channel Islands, 3rd edition, 1879. 68
