Thallus: crustose, strongly rimose to areolate, thin, rarely more than 0.5 mm thick; prothallus: rarely present, grayish black surface: dirty white, gray, brownish gray to sometimes partly pale rusty, finely granulose, dull, without soredia or isidia Apothecia: sessile, strongly constricted at base, 0.8-2 mm in diam. disc: black to sometimes blackish brown (if shaded ?), plane to +convex when older, epruinose margin: distinct, thin, about 0.1 mm wide, becoming excluded exciple: greenish black to blackish green, rarely with a few algal cells parathecium: hyaline, without crystals epihymenium: bluish green, blackish green to olivaceous or reddish brown (if older or damaged ?) hymenium: hyaline, 60-85 µm tall, not inspersed; paraphyses: simple, rarely anastomosing or branched, slightly thickened apically hypothecium: hyaline to rarely brown (if damaged ?) asci: clavate, lecanoral, 8spored ascospores: hyaline, simple, ellipsoid to ovoid, 11-17 x 6-9 µm; wall: thick and smooth, not halonate Pycnidia: globular, semi-immersed, with Vobis-type III conidiophores conidia: filiform, +curved, 15-28 µm long Spot tests: thallus surface K+ yellow, C+ yellowish red to very rarely C-, KC+ yellowish red, P+ yellow Secondary metabolites: atranorin, chloroatranorin, hopane-6α,22diol and lichexanthone, rarely norlichexanthone. Substrate and ecology: on non-calciferous or calciferous rocks World distribution: temperate parts of Asia, Australasia, Europe, North and South America Sonoran distribution: widespread from low to high elevations in Arizona, southern California, Baja California and Chihuahua.