_b._ LOWER CORTEX. In some foliose lichens such as _Peltigera_ there is
no special tissue developed on the under surface. In _Lobaria pulmonaria_
large patches of the under surface are bare, and the medulla is exposed
to the outer atmosphere, sheltered only by its position. In some other
lichens the lowermost hyphae lie closer together and a kind of felt of
almost parallel filaments is formed, generally darker in colour, as in
_Lecanora lentigera_, and in some species of _Physcia_.
Most frequently however the tissues of the upper cortex are repeated
on the lower surface, though differing somewhat in detail. In all of
the brown _Parmeliae_, according to Rosendahl[360], the structure is
identical for both cortices, though the upper develops now hairs, now
isidia, breathing pores, etc., while the lower produces rhizinae. The
amorphous mucilaginous cuticle so often present on the upper surface
is absent from the lower, the walls of the latter being often charged
instead with dark-brown pigments.
_c._ HYPOTHALLIC STRUCTURES. An unusual development of hyphae from the
lower cortex occurs in the genera _Anzia_ and _Pannoparmelia_—both
closely related to _Parmelia_—whereby a loose sponge-like hypothallus of
anastomosing reticulate strands is formed. In one of the simpler types,
_Anzia colpodes_, a North American species, the hyphae passing out from
the lower medulla become abruptly dark-brown in colour, and are divided
into short thick-walled cells. Frequent branching and anastomosis of
these hyphae result in the formation of a cushion-like structure about
twice the bulk of the thallus. In another species from Australia (_A.
Japonica_) there is a lower cortex, distinct from the medulla, consisting
of septate colourless hyphae with thick walls. From these branch out free
filaments, similar in structure but dark in colour, which branch and
anastomose as in the previous species.
[Illustration: Fig. 51. _Pannoparmelia anzioides_ Darb. Vertical
section of thallus and hypothallus. _a_, cortex; _b_, gonidial zone;
_c_, medulla; _d_, lower cortex; _e_, hypothallus. × ca. 450 (after
Darbishire).]
In _Pannoparmelia_ the lower cortex and the outgrowths from it are
several cells thick; they may be thick-walled as in _Anzia_, or they
may be thin-walled as described and figured by Darbishire[361] in
_Pannoparmelia anzioides_, a species from Tierra del Fuego (Fig. 51). A
somewhat dense interwoven felt of hyphae occurs also in certain parts of
the under surface of _Parmelia physodes_[362].
This peculiar structure, regarded as a hypothallus, is probably of
service in the retention of moisture. The thick cell-walls in most of the
forms suggest some such function.
E. STRUCTURES FOR PROTECTION AND ATTACHMENT
Such structures are almost wholly confined to the larger foliose and
fruticose lichens and are all of the same simple type; they are fungal in
origin and very rarely are gonidia associated with them.
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