Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bungartz, F., (eds.) 2004. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 2.
Thallus: not evident, lichenicolous Apothecia: innate to sessile on substrate, frequent, becoming contiguous, up to c. 0.45 mm in diam. disc: black, persistently plane thalline margin: absent, proper exciple concolorous with disc, <0.05 mm wide, entire proper exciple: 40-50 µm wide, pigmented dark brown, inner c. 20 µm less darkly pigmented hymenium: c. 70 µm tall; paraphyses: c. 2 µm wide, conglutinate, apical cells c. 5.5 µm wide, heavily pigmented forming a dark brown epihymenium; hypothecium: pigmented brown, 110-120 µm thick including stipe asci: clavate, 35-40 x 12-14 µm, Bacidia-type, 8-spored ascospores: brown, 1-septate, ellipsoid, type B development, Dirinaria-type, (10-)11.5-12.5(-14) x (5-)5.5-6(-6.5) µm, lumina at first angular, Physcia-like, inflating to become Beltraminia-like, some young spores slightly inflated at septum prior to pigmentation, some older but not fully mature spores inflated at septum in K; torus: absent; walls: heavily pigmented, ornamented Pycnidia: not seen Spot tests: not tested Secondary metabolites: not tested. Substrate and ecology: lichenicolous on species of Lecanora rupicola agg. World distribution: scattered from northern to southern Europe, Australasia and North America (Arizona and British Columbia) Sonoran distribution: Arizona, in Apache and Gila Counties at elevations of 2,000-2,900 m. Notes: All the attributes of this species except the spore type suggest a Buellia species. These include a lecideine apothecial margin, dark hypothecium, and Bacidia-type asci. The spores are also very small for a Rinodina species but their structure is characteristic of the Dirinaria-type. Giralt and Matzer (1994), in their study of bark species of Rinodina with biatorine or lecideine apothecia, suggest that such species can be considered to belong to either Rinodina or Buellia depending on which character(s) are given most weight.