Thallus rather small, to 2-3 cm tall, robust specimens to 6 cm tall, spreading, without a defined holdfast and often forming dense compact colonies amongst mosses or on small boulders and stones in damp places. Pseudopodetia smooth, rarely slightly furrowed, mostly ± terete or slightly flattened, becoming branched in upper parts, ± extensively corticate, cortex continuous or in flaky patches. Phyllocladia sparse and often poorly developed, ± indistinguishable from finer corticate pseudopodetial branches, or granular-papillate, spherical, rather variable in shape, sorediate. Soredia granular, white, present on most parts of the thallus, in part derived from the breakdown of phyllocladia. Cephalodia attached to main stems, sessile or shortly stalked, pale brownish- grey, rounded-globose at first, becoming scrobiculate-impressed, cortex smooth or slightly maculate. Apothecia rare, terminal, occasionally also lateral, to 1.5 mm diam., disc convex, brown or blackish-brown, immarginate. Hypothecium colourless. Ascospores acicular-fusiform, 3-septate, 35-50 × 2-3 µm. Chemistry: Atranorin, rangiformic and norrangiformic acids. Some specimens contain also perlatolic, glomelliferic and glomellic acids in place of rangiformic and norrangiformic acids.