Thompson, J., 1997. American Arctic Lichens: The Microlichens.
Thallus a thin, gray film or a scattering of very small verrucae, ashy, K—. Apothecia to 0.7 mm, narrowed at base, concave at first, then flat; margin thick and prominent, gray, persistent; disk black, pruinose; hypothecium hyaline; epihymenium dark, tips of paraphyses K+ beautifully violet (not purple); hymenium 75 µm, hyaline below; paraphyses free, 2.5 µm, branched above, upper part constrictedly septate and tips capitate; spores polarilocular, ellipsoid, 10-15 x 5-7 µm, septum 6-6.5 µm.
This species grows on moss and vegetable debris. It is known from Ellesmere Island, the vicinity of Coppermine, Northwest Territories, and Umanak, Greenland. It is, however, very close to C. friesii, an arctic species known from a wider range and distinguished mainly by a differing K reaction of the tips of the paraphyses, more reddish, and the paraphyses more coherent, plus a greater pruinosity of the disk.