Thallus ± closely attached, mostly forming irregular patches or incomplete rosettes, to 10 cm diam., often smaller and partly moribund, texture rather brittle, corticolous or muscicolous. Lobes variable, medium, 2-3 mm wide, marginal lobes ± spreading but often ± angular, wide-angled, inner lobes contorted and ± imbricate-unorientated centrally, without interthalline spaces, not, or only sparingly blackened at edges, apices concolorous or ± tinged red-brown. Upper surface pale grey-green, shining, ridged-rugose or smooth, ± convex becoming plane, occasionally ± irregularly white-maculate, especially at lobe apices, weakly concave towards lobe ends. Upper side of internal cavity densely yellow or ochre-yellow, tomentose towards lobe ends, becoming blackened centrally. Perforations rather sparse, scattered, median on main lobes, ± gaping or with a depressed rim (-type), plane or slightly elevated, often low-conical. Soralia numerous, laminal, rarely subterminal, scattered or ± confluent, convex, finely granular, < 1 mm diam. Apothecia rare (only seen in type), adnate, 3-4 mm diam., markedly concave, disc red-brown, epruinose, ± wrinkled, margins thick, inflexed, smooth, rarely faintly white-maculate, becoming ± entirely sorediate. Epithecium red-brown, without granules, colour in gelatinous matrix as well as in apices of paraphyses. Hymenium c. 130 µm tall. Asci ± elongate-ellipsoid, (2-)8-spored, 100-120 × 40-45 µm. Ascospores ellipsoid, 28-35 × 15-18 µm, wall 2 µm thick. Chemistry: Atranorin (cortex), stictic, constictic, norstictic (tr.) and echinocarpic acids, accessory compounds and four or more orange-yellow pigments, one UV+ orange-red, medulla K+ yellow → orange, C-, KC+ orange, Pd+ orange.