Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bungartz, F., (eds.) 2004. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 2.

Thallus: crustose, thick, areolate, areoles up to 1.3-1.4 mm wide, plane surface: gray to gray-brown, dull; margin: determinate; prothallus: absent; vegetative propagules: absent Apothecia: innate to adnate, frequent, rarely contiguous, up to 0.8-0.9 mm in diam. disc: black, plane to slightly convex thalline margin: absent thalline exciple: absent proper exciple: hyaline, 10-15 µm laterally, to 15-20 µm at periphery hymenium: 80-90 µm tall; paraphyses: c. 2 µm wide, conglutinate, with apices up to 3-3.5 µm wide, lightly pigmented, immersed in dispersed pigment forming a red-brown epihymenium; hypothecium: hyaline c. 120 µm thick asci: clavate, 55-60 x 16-18 µm, 8-spored ascospores: brown, 1-septate, ellipsoid, type A development, Milvina-type, (13-)14.5-15.5(-17) x (7-)7.58(- 8.5) µm, lumina with slightly thickened apical walls at first, finally rounded; torus: present, becoming hidden by dark wall pigmentation; walls: ornamented Pycnidia: immersed in thallus conidia: bacilliform, 5-6 x 1 µm Spot tests: all negative Secondary metabolites: zeorin. Substrate and ecology: on siliceous rock and sandstone World distribution: Scandinavia, mountains of central and southern Europe, the Karakoram, new to North America Sonoran distribution: southern California on San Nicolas Island and Santa Barbara County, 20-1220 m. Notes: This uncommon species is characterized by its thick, areolate thallus with sharply angular areoles, innate apothecia, and the small Milvina-type spores. Previous records of Buellia rinodinoides in Hasse (1913) and Fink (1935) are misidentifications (Esslinger 1997).