Chaenotheca chrysocephala (Turner ex Ach.) Th. Fr.

    Thallus made of globose bright yellow granules more or less aggregated, forming a bright green-yellow continuous crust. Apothecia cup-shaped on top of a thin and long stalk. 1-1.5 mm tall, disc black, stalk and head with a dense yellow pruina (except in the melanocephala (Nyl.) Zahlbr. morph). Asci formed from ascogenous hyphae with 8 ascospores. Ascospores, 14-20 x 4-5 µm, surface markedly irregular and, variable in shape, i.e. globose (3-6 µm diam.,) to ellipsoid (8-16 x 3-8 µm). Photobiont: Trebouxia (other related species have Stichococcus as photobiont, with non-spherical cells and a trend to form chains). Thallus C-, K+ faint brown , Pd+ faint and dilatory orange. Rare or understated, on bark of deciduous trees and conifers.