Thallus whitish-ashy, thin, verraculose to nearly lacking. Apothecia 0.2-0.7 mm, appressed, broadly adnate, soon convex and immarginate, dark brown to black; exciple radiate, dark brown; hypothecium pale brownish; epihymenium dark brown; hymenium 60-70 µm, 1+ blue turning violet-tinged, brownish; paraphyses coherent, 1.5 µm, tips scarcely thicker; spores oblong or fusiform, tips blunt or quite acute, 3-septate, 16-30 X 5-7 µm.

This species grows on moss and humus. I have also found it growing on old bone. It is cir-cumpolar, occurring in Europe, Siberia, and North America.

Life habit: lichenized (mutualistic with algal photobionts) thallus: crustose (crustaceous) – episubstratal – unspecified ascomata: absent | present ascoma: apothecial, apothecioid – hymenial ascoma [mm]: (median) 0.7 [ascm, if apoth] disc, mazaedium: subconvex, slightly convex | convex [ascm, if apoth] disc, mazaedium: black(ish) | grey(ish) [ascm, if apoth] subhymenial layers, hypothecium; [if perith] basal excipulum: hyaline, colourless | red(dish) brown (if pale: orange brown) [ascm] paraphyses/-oids: present [ascm] epihymenium, epithecium: brown(ish) (if pale: fawn, tan; if mid: cinnamon) | brown(ish) red (carneous) asci: lecanoralean [asc] tholus: thickened [asc] tholus amyloidity (iodine reaction): present [asc] tholus amyloidity pattern: with amyloid tube (= Collema-, Micarea-, Porpidia-, Psora-types etc) | amyloid with acuate axial body towards the apex (= Bacidia-, Buellia-, Ramalina-types etc) ascospores: (median) 8.0 [asp] length [µm]: (low) 16.0 (high) 30.0 [asp] width [µm]: (low) 5.0 (high) 6.0 [asp] septa: present [asp] septa: transversely septate [asp] transversal septa: (min) 1.0(median) 3.0 (max) 5.0 primary photobiont: present secondary photobionts (eg in cephalodia): absent primary photobiont: chlorophytaceous – trebouxiaceous, chlorococcoid.

substrate: soil, clay, humus, turf, detritus, dead leaves.