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Show 66 The Hi)lory of P L A N 'f S. produces from the feveral parts of it's upper fur face, oblong bodies, th ickefi in the middle ~nd pointed at each end, and bent into the form of a horn, or crefcent. Thefe adhere' to the plant by one of their points, and the other ufually hangs over the edges of it. On the thicker part of this crefcent, or horn, there ftand a vall: number of fingle an thera:! fupported by fhort filaments, and, among them, a great number of very minute o~al feeds, each lodged in it's cell. !he whole pl~nt does not exceed the diameter of a large pea. I have it very fr~quent m. our .wood~ 111 ~ebruary and IV! arch, on the fiumps of old tr ees, and on rotten fttcks. Mtcheli calls It Ce1 atofp~r~um mgru rn minimum, difcoides, e diverfarum arborum ramorum emortuarum cort1c1bus, et prrecipue corylo, erumpens. 2. Ceratofpermum pediculatum cavum. ':li:Je hollow, pedict~lated Ceratofpermum. This is as fmall a plant as the former, b.ut fome~hat m?~e fingular in i t'~ figure. !t rifes with a fhort th ick and rounded pedtcle, whtch, at 1t s top, expands mto a fetmcircular body, fo~ewh;t hollow, and refembling a kind of cup. Th~ whole plant is not more than a quarter of a~ inch high. It's cup, or hollow .part, . IS fcarce a fi~t!l of an inch in diameter. It IS common to meet wnh the plant m thts ll:ate; but It s fruCtifications are more rarely feen . The whole plant is white, and of a tough fun gous fubftance, the edges of the cup ev~n and fin ooth, and ~h e whole plant befide a little hairy. When in flower, there anfe a vall: clu!l:er of httle horns, or crefcents, forty or more from the whole internal furface of the cup; they are fixed by one end, and are of a'beautiful fcarlet colour, fo that, with the white of the cup, they make a very beautiful appearance. The two extremities.of thefe horns are, at. all times, _naked,. but the middle appears dull:y, and, when examme~ by a powerful m1crofcope, IS fou nd ~o be covered over partly with anthera~, partly wtth feeds. The feeds are oval, and he in fmall cells · the antherre are oblong, but more tumid than thofe of the former fpecies. This i; frequent with us in woods, on the frumps of old trees. Before it is in it's fiate of fructification, it much refembles fome of the common cup Fungus's. Mi~ cheli has alfo defcribed this : he calls it Ceratofpermum minimum cornucopiodes. 3· Ceratojpermum planum craJ!tjftmum. The fla t, thick Ceratofpermnm. This is a fubaqueous plant. It extends itfelf over old wood that is laid in rivers, and over many other fubftances there, in form of a thick crull:. It affumes no particular, determinate figure, but fpreads in every direCtion where it has room. It is of a fungous fubftance, of a brownilh colour on the outfide, and white within, and is ufually fu ll of cracks and holes; the fur faces of which are of the fame colour with the external furface of the plant. In this fo rm it will fpread fometimes to te n or twelve inches every way, and is often more th at~ half an inch in thicknefs. I t's fu rface is fmooth and lubricous, as moll: other things are that lie long under water. From every part of it's furface there grow horns, or crefcents, of a duiky-brownifh colour, about a tenth of an inch in length, and of the thicknefs of a fmall hair ; on the furfaces of thefe, about the middle, there lie feeds of an oval form in their cells ; the antherre I have not yet feen, though I have, more than once, fought after them. We have this fpe cies on the boards at the mill-tails in Buckinghamfhire in many places. Thefe are all the fpecies of the Ceratofpermum hitherto known. F U N G ·z Clqfs the Third. Genus the Thirteenth. I S A R I A. I SARI A i~ a genus _of Fungi, c;onfifling of fialks of a fimple or ramofe figme, formed of c1rcular fenes of fibres, arranged round a cavernous axis and each fibre having at it's end a capfule, in which are the fruCti fications of the pla~t. The 7be Hiftory of P L A N T S. The I fa rire produce di!l:inct male and female flowers, both contained in the cavity of the fame capfule, or cell. The male flowers are antherre, fianding in dull:ers, on very fhort fiamina. The antherre themfelves are of a tumid figure. The female :flowers confi !l: of a placenta of an oval figure, and gelatinous matter, to all parts of which adhere round feeds. The Irarire are all very fmall plants, and t?e furface of them all is alike of a bea\ltiful granulated .lhuCture, it being all compofed of globular bodies, applied as clofely as poffible to one another. Micheli met with two fpecies of this genus, whic? . he very jull:ly diflingu iG1ed from all the other Fungi, under the name of Puccinia. Whether the plants he examined, however, were not mature, or by whatever accident it happened, his account of their fruCtifications is very imperfeCt. We have called the genus Ifaria. From the Greek, ;,, a fibre, thefe_ being the only known Fungi that are compofed wholly of fibres, [upporting the fruCtification s. I. Ifaria ramofa varie divifa. The varioujly, divided, ramqfe Ijaria. This is an extreamly beautiful little plant. It rifes with a fingle fiem rounded, and of the thicknefs of a fmall packthread; th is runs up fingle to about a third of it's height, and from thence begins to divide into a number of Ieifer branches; thefe ramify again; and at length the whole forms a kind of little buib, with the branches, all ereCt, and terminating in obtufe point~ . The whole plant is of a deep orange colour, and it's height is more than half an inch. The furfuce of the branches, examined with a microfcope, appear beautifully and regularly granulated : when cut tranfverfely, and examined, they are found to confill: of a cylindric, cavernous core, arouhd which are ranged feries of fibres very ihort and .llender, each, at it's extremity, fupporting art oval body, which is the receptacle of the frutlifications. This body, care fully opened, is found to contain a placenta of a gelatinous fub!l:ance, and roundifh figure, on which there lie great numbers of feeds. The furface of the cavity in many places alfo appears thick covered with a kind of du.lt, which, when carefully examined, appears to confill: of antherre affixed in clull:ers to fmall fiamina. This beautiful Fungus is common in Charlton-forell: in Sufftx, growing to the decaying bodies of beeches and other trees. I never faw it elfewhere, nor has any authot defcribed it. 2. lfaria Jimplex. The Jimple Ijaria. T his is a very fmall plant, fcarce exceeding, at it's utmoll: growth, a quarter of an inch in height, or half as much in diameter. It grows to old wood, by a broad bafe, from which it rifes fmaller all the way, to the top where it terminates in an o0tufe point. It is feldom quite firait; ufually bowed, or bent .a little : it 's colour is a duiky whitilh; it's f11rface granulated; when cut tranfverfely, it appears to be formed in the fame manner as the former, of feries of rays or fibres iffuing from a cone or central body, and each terminated by a capfule at the furface; we have this on dead flicks, and fometimes on old gate-poll:s in damp woods. Micheli has mentioned this fpecies under the name of Puccinia non ramofa major pyramidata. The fructifications in this are much lefs di!l:inet than in the former ; and in the following fpecies, which was the only one, befide this, that Micheli knew, they are fiilllefs fo, whence it is not wonderful that he did not perfeCtly difcover them. 3. lfaria ramofa 6ijida. The 6ijid ramofi Iforia. This is an extreamly minute Fungus, but, when examined with the help of a good magnifier, it is a very beautiful one. It rifes with a {mall fingle ftem, which almoft immediately afterwards divides into two, and each of thofe ramifications afterwards into two more, and fo on, till the whole forms a little bulb of branches all. dichotomoufly divided. The whole plant is fcarce a quarter of an inch in height, and it's branches, as if too weak to bear their own weight, often droop and bend : a multitude of the plants |
