This species forms a pale yellowish‑gray crust several centimeters across that has a slightly warted surface and often a thin black border. A very thin around 5
μm thick encloses the thallus, which lacks white spots and develops within the outer bark (it is ). The
perithecia occur in distinct warts that can be 0.8–1.2 mm wide and are somewhat constricted at the base. Each perithecium is more or less spherical (subglobose), up to about 1 mm wide, with a heavily wall 100–200 μm thick and a black pore at the apex. The is densely sprinkled with tiny, 1–3 μm wide colorless droplets. The
asci are long and slender (about 150 μm by 15 μm). Each ascus bears eight pale gray‑brown
ascospores in a single row. These spores have three cross‑walls (
septa), measure 14–20 μm long and 7–10 μm wide, and have lens‑shaped central chambers and more rounded end chambers. They do not develop a thick inner wall at the tips. The thallus contains
lichexanthone, which causes it to
fluoresce yellow when lit with long-wavelength
ultraviolet light. ==Habitat and distribution==