Page:VCH Staffordshire 1.djvu/100

 A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE in the more open districts, as on the high lands about Swithamly, Flash and Quanford the gritstone and limestone rocks are rich in such species as Placodium murorum, Coniocype furfuraceum, Gladina pungens, Pla- tysma triste and Alec toria jubata. In the Wetton valley and the beautiful valley of the Dove the rocks of mountain limestone form a congenial home for some of the rarer species, as Umbillkaria polyphila, Platysma g/auca, bright yellow patches of Lecidia geographica, Spbcerophoron coral- /oides, Squamaria crassa, Lecanora parella and Solorina saccata; over a great portion of the county the more conspicuous tree-loving species are singu- larly absent, and only rarely are the tree trunks beautified with the con- spicuous fronds of Ramalina fraxinea, R. fastigiata or Usnea barbate, In the rich woodland districts around Whitmore and Trentham the trees are clothed with grey patches of Parmelia puherulenta^ P. pbysodes and P. stellaris ; the old palings of some of the damp woods are coated with Lecanora candelaria, Usnea birta, Parmelia olivacea and P. parietina ; and the wild moorlands about Cannock and Norton, notwithstanding the proximity of large colliery workings, are still a home for many of the heath-loving species, as Cladonia pyxidata, C. cornucopioides, C. digitata, C. rangiferina and Cladina syhatica. The sandstone rocks of the country around Stone yield their special species, as Lecanora squamulosa, Placodium cal/opismum and Verrucaria rupestris, and on the smooth bark of the holly the lime and crab are the singular forms of Graphis scripta, G. e/egans, Arthonia astroidea, A. lurida, Opegrapba imlgata and O. atra. The following list is an incomplete record of the Staffordshire lichens compiled in part from Garner's Natural History of the County of Stafford and the writer's personal observations. Family I. COLLEMACEI Collema melaenum, Ach. crispum, Huds. cristatum, Hoffm. flacciclum, Ach. multipartitum, Sm. nigrescens, Huds. Leptogium lacerum, Ach. var. pulvinatum (Hoff.) fragrans, Sm. tremelloides, L. turgidum, Ach. Schraderi, Bernh. Family II. LICHENACEI Sphinctrina turbinata, Pers. anglica, Nyl. Calcium trichiale, Ach. var. ferrugineum (Borr.) hyperellum, Ach. trachelinum, Ach. quercinum, Pers. curtum, Borr. Coniocybe furfuracea, Ach. Trachylia tigillaris, Fr. tympanclla, Fr. Sphaerophoron coralloides, Pers. 66 Sphaerophoron fragile, Pers. Baeomyces rufus, DC. icmadophilus, Ehrh. Cladonia pungens, Flk. cervicornis, Schaer. delicata, Flk. var. subsquamosa (Nyl.) alcicornis, Flk. pyxidata, Fr. var. fimbriata (Hoffm.) gracilis, Hoffm. furcata, Hoffm. squamosa, Hoffm. cornucopioides, Fr. deformis, Hoffm. var. macilenta (Hoffrn.) var. polydactyla (Flk.) Cladina sylvatica, Hoffm. rangiferina, Hoffm. uncialis, Hoffm. Stereocaulon pascliale, Ach. denudatum, Flk. Usnea barbata, L. var. florida (L.) var. hirta (L.) var. plicata (L.)