1832

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART Ill.

1659

quently found on the oak in the neighbourhood of Vienna, and is supposedby some to be the mistletoe of the druids. (See our art. Fiscum, p. 1021.)

The principal Lichens that are found on the oak are what are vulgarly calledthe lungs of the oak, and its moss. The lichens sold under the name of the lungsof the oak are, Sticta pulmonacea and S. scrobiculata;and they are still much in demand in Covent Gardenmarket, and other places, as a cure for consumption,and all disorders of the chest. S. pulmonacea Ach.,syn. Lichen pulmonarius Sow. Eng. Bot., t. 572.,and our Jig. 1659., is most plentiful in the northernor mountainous countries, where it clothes the trunksof old oaks “ with a rich leafy garment. The frondsgrow a little imbricate, but are considerably raisedfrom the bark, into which their leaves are inserted.

They are leathery, green, deeply divided, irregularly and bluntly lobed, stronglypitted ; the interstices forming a kind of network, which, towards the marginof the frond, is powdery or woolly.” The under side is downy, blistered, andpale, with a corresponding network of brown veins. The shields are, “for themost part, marginal, but not always: they are nearly sessile, flat, chestnut-coloured, with an elevated, smooth, green border. They are found at all timesof the year, and in tolerable plenty.” (Eng. Bot., t. 572.) A decoction ofthis lichen is used with milk, to cure all diseases of the lungs. It is bitter,astringent, and mucilaginous, and promotes expectoration. It was first em-ployed to cure coughs, Sowerby tells us, because its figure resembled thatof the lungs. It is supposed to possess nearly the same properties as thecelebrated Iceland moss (Cetraria islandiea Ach.'). Thename of Sticta (that is, dotted) was given to this genusfrom the numerous little pits that are found on theunder surface of the fronds. S. scrobiculata Ach., syn.

Lichen scrobiculatus Sow. Eng. Bot., t. 497., and ourJig. 1660., is found on the trunks of oaks in themountainous parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland,but not frequently. “ The fronds spread loosely overeach other, and are rather leafy than coriaceous, cutinto round lobes, and obtusely notched. Their upperside is glaucous, full of irregular pits, smooth towards the base or centre; buttowards the margin they are sprinkled with grey mealy warts. The underside is downy, brown, paler towards the edge, and spotted all over withirregular bare white spots. The shields are so rare, that Dillenius never sawthem, but copied them from Micheli, in whose figure (t. 49.) they are drawnwithout any margin. After the examination of many hundred specimens,”continues Sowerby, “ we have found only two infructification. In these the shields are about thesize of mustard seed, of a tawny brown, flat, withan elevated, inflexed, downy (not mealy) margin,of the colour of the frond.” (Eng. Bot., t. 497.)

The lichen figured by Gerard, as the “ oke andhis mosse,” is U'snea plicata Ach. : syn. Lichenplicatus Lin.Sp.Pl., 1622., Sow., Eng. Bot., t.257.,and our Jig. 1661.; Afuscus arboreus, &c ., RatiSyn,, 64.; U'snea vulgaris, &c., Dill. Muse., 56. 't. 11. f. 1.; Usnee, Fr. “ The whole plant is from '

1 ft. to 2 ft., or even more, in length, forming athick entangled mass of branching fibres, which "/Mpaare cylindrical, all more or less divaricated andundulated, none of them straight. They are ofa uniform greenish freestone colour ; the surface '*■very smooth at first, but in the older parts rough with minute warts, supposedto be the male flowers. The main stems often crack here and there, discover-