Cornicularia is represented by a single species,
Cornicularia normoerica, which forms neat, dark tufts that rarely exceed 2 cm in height. The lichen body (
thallus) stands erect and is anchored so firmly that it must be cut or scraped away from rock or bark. Its main branches are narrow—about 0.3–0.6 mm across—stiff, and slightly flattened, with few side-branches. Each branch tapers abruptly near the tip and arises from a repeatedly dividing
holdfast, giving the tuft a shrub-like outline. The surface is a glossy black-brown and is protected by an unusually thick outer skin () made of densely packed, parallel
hyphae. Inside, the fungal partner shelters rounded
green algal cells of the genus
Trebouxia, which supply
photosynthetic sugars. Reproduction in
C. normoerica is mainly
sexual: most branch tips carry black, shiny (
apothecia) one to five millimetres wide. These discs may sprout a few short, rod-like extensions and gradually overtop the branch apex. Each spore sac (
ascus) is club-shaped with a thickened tip and releases eight smooth, colourless
ascospores measuring about 5–6 × 3–4
μm.
Asexual propagules also occur: half-sunken, spherical
pycnidia dot the branch ends and secrete thread-like
conidia roughly 6.5–7.5 μm long. Chemical analyses have yet to detect any
secondary metabolites, which differentiates the species from many other shrubby lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. The combination of a firmly attached, sparsely branched tuft, abundant apical apothecia, and the absence of detectable lichen products are characters to help distinguish
C. normoerica in the field. ==Ecology==