Thallus squamulose, in neat rosettes, to 5 cm diam., or spreading irregularly, 10-15 cm diam., very closely attached to substrate, small foliose-lobate at margins. Lobes short to medium, 5-12 mm long and 1-4 mm wide, incised, margins becoming phyllidiate, on a visible prothallus, densely squamulose-phyllidiate centrally, often forming a diffract-areolate crust. Phyllidia very small, finely raised, fragile, ascending, dorsiventral or lobulate-subcoralloid, naked or white- tomentose on lower surface, densely imbricate. Upper surface smooth, matt, sometimes shining, without tomentum, lettuce-green when wet, pale green or grey-green when dry becoming uniformly yellow-brown on storage. Cephalodia laminal or marginal, sparse, pale blue-grey, flattened or globose-granular to placodioid or rosette-shaped. Lower surface dark brown to black centrally, buff or brown at margins, ± densely rhizinate with a narrow, naked, marginal zone. Rhizines black or pale greyish, squarrose, to 3 mm long, rarely to 5 mm long, often projecting beyond lobe margins as a byssoid prothallus. Apothecia 1-3 mm diam., round to irregular, ± central, disc pale yellow-brown to red- brown or brown-black, undulate, matt, epruinose, thalline margin, squamulose, squamules often spreading onto disc, disc not gyrose-etched or contorted, margins crenate-striate or ± entire. Ascospores mainly subglobose, 13-15-12-14 µm or ellipsoid and halonate 12-20 × 10-14 µm.