Thallus fruticose, erect, to 11 cm tall, the lobes 2-10 mm broad; irregularly branched, somewhat sympodial, the branches inrolled and canaliculate as in C. ericetorum and C. islandica, the tips slightly reflexed; upper side pale brown; underside paler, the base very pale pinkish but not red; the whole giving a much paler looking plant than the previous two species; underside with marginal pseudocyphellae which are wider and more continuous than in C. ericetorum. Cortex prosoplectenchymatous, 40-75 μ thick; medulla loose, to 260 μ thick. Apothecia not seen.

Reactions: K + yellow to red, KC + yellow to red, P+ red.

Contents: fumarprotocetraric acid.

Growing in moister habitats than the previous two species, it is possibly a broad-ranging amphi-Beringian arctic species, in North America ranging from Alaska eastward through upper Canada. In Europe it extends only into the European USSR.