Global occurrence: Eurasia – Europe | Americas – North America (incl Mexico) | Arctic.  Substrate: soil, clay, humus, turf, detritus, dead leaves.  Life habit: lichenized (mutualistic with algal photobionts).  Thallus: squamulose (squamulous); [th] upper surface: brown(ish) (if pale: fawn, tan; if mid: cinnamon); [th upper surface]: epruinose; [th marginal and upper surface] specific structures: absent; [th] morphol substructures (eg areoles, lobes, branches) width [mm]: (low) 3.0 (high) 6.0; [th] lower surface: black(ish); [th lower surface] specific structures: present; [th lower surface] rhizines, rhizoid structures: present.  Ascomata: absent | present; ascoma: perithecial, perithecioid – hymenial; ascoma [mm]: (min) 0.6; ascoma: immersed, innate; [ascm] paraphyses/-oids: absent.  Asci: fissitunicate – verrucarialean; [asc] tholus: not thickened | thickened; [asc] tholus amyloidity (iodine reaction): absent.  Ascospores: (median) 8.0; [asp] shape: ellipsoidal; [asp] length [µm]: (min) 15.0 (low) 17.0 (high) 22.0 (max) 24.0; [asp] width [µm]: (min) 7.5 (low) 8.0 (high) 10.5 (max) 11.5; [asp] septa: absent – spore lumen unilocular, monolocular; [asp] pigmentation: hyaline, colourless; [asp] perispore, epispore: not apparent.  Conidiomata: absent | present.  Conidia: bacilliform, bacillary; [co] length [µm]: (min) 5.0(median) 6.1 (max) 8.0.  Secondary metabolites: absent.  Primary photobiont: present, chlorophytaceous – trebouxiaceous, chlorococcoid.  Secondary photobionts (eg in cephalodia): absent.