Thallus to 15 mm tall, fertile pseudopodetia conspicuously taller than sterile pseudopodetia. Pseudopodetia simple, occasionally bifurcating at apices, terete, finger-like, corticate, cortex continuous, smooth to cracked, verrucose-wrinkled, whitish-cream never purplish-brown, exposed forms greyish, the result of a crazing of fine black lines across the cortex. Phyllocladia absent. Cephalodia basal, pale yellowish-brown or greenish, never black, distinctly cerebriform, convoluted. Apothecia terminal, often 2-3 per pseudopodetium, disc black, 1-4 mm wide, plane at first with a thin, pale margin, becoming convex and immarginate at maturity, thalline exciple smooth, pale yellowish-brown. Hypothecium colourless or pale yellowish-brown, 100-120 µm tall. Ascospores fusiform, acicular, 6-8(-10)-septate, 48-68 × 5-6 µm. Chemistry: Atranorin and protocetraric acid, ± fumarprotocetraric acid, ± perlatolic acid, ± colensoinic acid, ± anziaic acid.