Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot., Sér. 4, 11: 209 (1859).

Type locality: Peru, 1839-40, Gay s.n. (H-NYL 38557 - lectotype; G, M, PC - isolectotypes). Designated by Ahti (1983).

Description: Lichen. Thallus dimorphous, primary thallus consisting of evanescent, elongate, slightly incised squamules ca. 6 x 0.5 mm in size, somewhat veined below. Podetia whitish-grey, in sun-exposed apical parts strongly browning, 4-12-15 cm tall, including long-persistent, black, dead basal parts, verticillate-scyphose, scyphi in 6-12-18 tiers; scyphal plates 2-14 mm wide, 2-3 mm high, flaring very abruptly, incurved or flat when young, recurved when old, margins soon becoming deeply divided into 1.5-2 mm long, 1-3 times branching, flat to terete teeth; senile scyphi almost completely split up into narrow divisions, or at least rimose and cribriform; internodes 5-15 mm long, 0.4-1.5 mm thick. Surface of podetia verruculose, areolate-corticate, with many ecorticate cracks and patches, esorediate, matt, clearly tomentulose, rarely squamulose; medulla soon darkening even near the podetial tops, especially the scyphal teeth, and emorient basal parts blackening conspicuously under paler cortical areolae so as to give the podetia a checkered appearance. Podetial wall 280-360 µm thick, rather soft, cortex up to 40 µm, medulla 160-200 µm, stereome 80-120 µm, not very horny, rather distinctly delimited from the medulla; surface of central canal usually strongly minutely papillate. Conidiomata borne on scyphal margins, subspherical, sessile; conidia 9-11/1 µm. Hymenial discs on scyphal margins, with ca. 1 mm long stalks, pale to dark brown; ascospores oblong, 14-17/4-6 µm (Ahti & Marcelli 1995: 8).

Photobiont: Data lacking.

Chemistry: P+ orange red, K- or red-brown, fumarprotocetraric acid, traces of protocetraric acid, convirensic acid (rarely absent?), confumarprotocetraric acid (Ahti & Marcelli 1995: 8).

Ecology: On soil or rocks (Ahti & Marcelli 1995: 8).