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Show The Hiflory of P L A N T S. placenta, and on it a vafl: number of minute feeds. I met with this plant in Charltonforcfi, and never faw it elfewhere. Micheli feems to defcribe it under the name of Lichen agaricus terrefl:ris, digitatus, niger, apicibus alborufis, radice longiffima reptatrice. The other fpecies of X ylarice will ea6ly be known by their names : they are, I. T he fmall, black, cupreffiform Xylaria, with white tops. 2. The yellow, military Xylaria of Vaillant; and, 3· The brown Xylaria, with red tops. F U N G L Clafs the Third. Genus the Eleventh. lE C I D I U M. JE C I DIU M is a genus of Fungus, confifiing of a tuberous, or merely crufiaceous matter, of a tolerably firm firutl:ure, and marked with round protuberances on the furface, which are the coverings of certain cells, in which both the male and female flowers of the plant are produced, though feparate from one another. T he mal.e fl?wers are compofed of fingle antherre, each adhering to it's particular filament, whtch ts very fhort. The antherre are oblong and tumid, and are placed on the upper part of the internal furface of the cells. The female flowers confift of a placenta, of a fungous fubfi~nce, ~ll around which are placed fmall, roundiib feeds, each in it's [eparate cell. Micheli IS the only author who has difcovered that there was any fuch gcnu_ s of plants as thefe, though fome of the fpecies are confiderably large, and, one would thmk, coul~ not be overlooked: he has confounded them, however, with the Xylaria befor~ defcnbed; the cells, indeed, are of the fame nature with thofe of that genus, but,. 111 all other refp.etl:s,. the plants are as different as thofe pf any two genera can be : nor IS eve.n the fruCltiication, when accurately examined, at all alike, as appears from the _g~nencal charatl:ers. We have called this genus, diftinguifhed by it's peculiar cells, .!EctdiUm, from the Greek o~>wi',o~, cellula. I • ./!!;cidium tuberojum renifornte. T6e tuberofe, kidney-jhaped JEcidium. This fingular plant arife~ from a broa~ and long bafe, from which it extends itfelf into a tuberous ~afs, of an mch and half m length, and an inch in diameter, and in {hape much refemb!mg a kidner Sometimes a clufter of thefe grow together, and form a mafs of a vanouf1y botry01de furfa~e; but more ufually they grow fingle and fepa rate, thou~h very near one another. It IS of a tolerably firm fi:ruB:ure, but light; it's furface IS ~anouf1y elevate~, and. is ornamented with a number of wart-like protuberances, r~6ng but to a httle height, flat at the top, and frequently with a lelfer protuberance m ~he center. Thefe t~bercles are the coverings of fo many cells, which are of a roundtlb figu_re, and contam the anther~, affixed to their upper internal fu rface, and the feeds affixed to placent~ in the lower part of the cavity. T he anthera! are oblong, th.e feeds ver.y fmall and round. The colour of the whole plant is a duiky brown, fomet1mes black1ili. We have it frequent in fome of our woods rowino- to the dead frumps o~ trees near the root. Micheli calls it Lichen agaricus, ~ra%-us, b~vinum rcnem velut1 reprrefentans, niger et quafi deuftus. I have five fpecimens of it t~ken_fromk~he root of a holly, in ~he garden at the Spaniards at H ampfiead. InfeCt~ OJ vafitious £ mdds ~re. apt to eat their way into it, and their exuvire and other remains arc o ten oun m 1t , fco mett•m es a1 m o ft at t h e center, fometime's nearer the furface.' fh~·~ole.s ma~e hby thefe creatures are to be carefully diO:inguHhed from the cells of leufcr~b~~u~n ~·the r~n~. I have ~ever feen any of it quite black, but the burnt-look, Y IC e I m IS name, 1s very common in it, and very fingular. 2. /Ecidium cru.flaceum cellulis maximis. T~e cruflaceous /Ecidium, with very large cells. This is an extremely fingula 1 t · · f £ fi b ro wni fh colour. It extends i[ref/·~ . : ltli\ 0 ~ 0 t, fungous .texture, and of a dufky and fium s of deca in , II~ egu ar Y' 111 form of a thick crull, over the roots P Y g trees. It s dimenfions are uncertain, but it's thicknefs is ufually about The Hijlory of P L A N T S. about a fifth of an inch. T he furface is fu ll of large and hemifpheric tuberdes, with an opening at their op. Thefe lead into the cells in which the parts of frutl:ification of the plant are difpofed ; the antherce occupy the upper part, hanging by their feparate ftamina, f10m the internal furface ; the reO: of the cavity is filled by a placenta, to which adhe re a great number of extremely minute feeds. We have this plant pretty frequent in our own woods, about the ft umps and roots of decayed trees; but it is not regarded any more than the other fpecies of this fingular genus, many of which, doubtlefs, have fa llc::n in the way of our botanical writers many times, but, from their having very little of the appearance of plants, have been overlooked by them. It is frequen t in H ornfey-wood toward the latter end of N ovember. 3· ..i.Ecidium ctaJ/ius Juper.ficie JPlendenie. The thick, jhining ./.Ecidium. This fpecies adheres to the fubfiance it grows on by a very broad bafe, from which it extends variouf1y, fometimes into a femicircular figure, fometimes lefs regularly; i t's furface is ufually fu ll of large protuberances, and it's thicknefs frequently as much as it's length. In ihape it often much refembles the common agaric, but it's fubftance is harder, and it's colour bhi.ck. It's whole fuperficies is fmooth and gloffy, and feems as if covered with a glutinous fluid; but there are obferved in it, when examined clofely, a num her of little promjnences, lefs gloffy than the reft; they are of a roundiib figure, and have each a perforation in their center : thefe lead into deep, cylindric cells, the internal furface of which, in the upper part, is covered very thick with fi:amina ; the r efi: of the cavity contains an oblong, cylindric placenta, to wpich adhere a multitude of feeds. This is fcarce wjth us : I found it once on Mendip~hills, growing to the ftump of a decayed oak. The mafs was as big as a man's lift, and femicircular : near it there were others, lefs regularly ihaped. M icheli calls it Lichen agaricus, tuberofus, niger, agarici ofJi.cinalis facie. · T he other fpecies of the JEcidium will be eafily difiingui{hed by their names: they are, I. T he white, thick .!Ecidium. ' 2. The black, thinner .!Ecidiurn, growing under the barks of trees. 3. The hairy, grey .!Ecidium, growing on old oaks. 4· The fmall, blackifh, bullated l:Ecidium, growing under the parks of decayed trees. 5· The white, fcutated .!Ecidium , growing on the ground. 6. T he tufted, black .!Ecidium. 7· T he tufted, red rEcidium. 8. The fmaller, tufted, pale-red .!Ecidium. 9· The ferrugineous, tufted .!Ecidium ; and, 1 o. The dufty, black, tufted .!Ecidium: all thefe latter fpecies grow either in the clefts and fi!fures of old trees, or between the bark and the wood. F U N G L Clafs the Third. Genus the r welftb. C E R .A T 0 S P E R M U M~ CERA T C? S P E ~ M U M is a genus of F ungi, confifiing of a tough, fungous . . matter, difpofed mto more o; lefs _regular figur es, and pr.oducing flender bodies, m form of crefcents, for the receptiOn ot the parts of frutl:ification. Thefe plants produce both male and female flowers feparate, but placed one among another. The male flowers are anther~, of an oblong form, fupported fingly by fhort and flender filaments. The female flowers we can difcover nothing of, except the feeds, which are placed fingly among the antherre, each in it's feparate little cell . I. Ceratojpermum orbiculare fejjile. The orbicular Cet atojpermum without a .ftalk. This is a very fmall, as well as a very fingular plant. It adheres to the fubfiance it &rows on ~y a broad bafe, and from this it expands itfelf every way a little, till it has formed a femicircu1ar body, two thirds of which is the bafe, and is fixed down · the r~maind_er is a little elevated, an d forms th e edges, fo that the whole makes a ki~d of ?1 ili a ~I ttle hollowerl : it's fubfta nce is tough and firm, it's colour black. In this fiate 1t remams a confirlerable time ; but, when the period of it's frutl:ification comes on, it S produces, |