Alpine Camouflage Lichen

Description. M. stygia has foliose thallus, composed of 0.25 - 1.5 mm broad, smooth and usually distinctly convex lobes (Szczepanska and Kossowska 2017). The upper surface is glossy, dark brown to almost black. The lower surface is dark brown to black, paler near the margins, with single, dark rhizines. Pseudocyphellae in this species are numerous, rounded or slightly elongated and laminal - clearly visible on the upper surface of the lobes. Pycnidia are also common, globose, laminal and immersed with hyaline, bacilliform conidia (3.5 - 5 x 1 µm). Apothecia are laminal, constricted at the base and 0.5 - 6 mm in diameter. Ascospores are hyaline, ellipsoid to oblong-ellipsoid, 6 - 8 x 4 - 6 μm in size.