Coenogonium pinetum (Ach.) Lücking & Lumbsh

    Thallus evanescent, hardly visible, greyish, grey-greenish, greenish. Usually very few apothecia, small, 0.2-0.5 mm diam., disc flat, white at first, whitish then pale pinkish, pale pink-orange, margin conspicuous, lighter. Ascus club-shaped, 60-75 x 5-7 µm according to our measurements ; ascospores longly ellipsoid, colourless, 1-septate with a tiny droplet in each space, 9-14 x 3-4 µm and 10-15 x 3-4 µm, respectively according to authors and to us. Pycnidia whitish, frequent. Photobiont : Trentepohlia. Chemical spot tests negative. Not rare but inconspicuous, on acid bark of trees, notably conifer. N.B. Apothecia are a major key to identification of this species, but they are visible only in winter and spring. See Coenogonium luteum with larger apothecia, apricot, growing on mosses of barks.*