Description: This shiny brown, foliose epiphyte with inflated, ‘brown paper bag’ or peg-like isidia is occasional on enriched twigs and branches. It appears to be frequent in the northern half of Ireland but there are, as yet, few records from the south.

Key Identification Features:

• It can be distinguished chemically from the common Melanelia fuliginosa ssp. glabratula by the C- reaction
• The rounded isidia, that are hollow distinguish it from Melanelia elegantula, a rarer species that has peg-like isidia that are frequently branched.

Original text submitted by Simon Davey

Distribution Map from NBN: Melanohalea exasperatula at National Biodiversity Network mapping facility, data for UK.

iNaturalist: Melanohalea exasperatula at iNaturalist World Species Observations database.