K. Svenska Vetensk. Akad. Nya Handl. 15: 101 (1794).
Basionym: Lichen velleus L., Sp. Pl.: 1150 (1753).
Thallus: foliose, monophyllous, up to 10 cm diameter, thick and rigid. Upper side grey to reddish brown, smooth to scabrous, often finely irregularly cracked, undulating, without rugae or sharp ridges. Medulla white. Under side dark brown to black, more or less trabeculate around the umbilicus, scabrous, covered with short, stout, often ball-tipped rhizinomorphs concolorous with the under side, interspersed with numerous slender, mostly branched, attenuated, light brown rhizinomorphs. Thallospores multicellular, on the lower cortex and in clusters on rhizinomorphs. Isidia and soredia absent. Apothecia rare, gyrose (Krog & Swinscow 1986: 84; Swinscow & Krog 1988: 321).
Photobiont: Green algae.
Chemistry: Gyrophoric acid. C+ rose (Krog & Swinscow 1986: 84; Swinscow & Krog 1988: 321).
Ecology: On silicious rock, single localitiy on solifluction soil below glacier at 4560 m altitude (Krog & Swinscow 1986: 84).
Distribution Type: Bipolar? Asia, Europe, North America, Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia, Morocco, Canary Islands, New Zealand, Uganda.
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