Galapagos Species Database

Thallus thin, continuous to rimose, white to whitish gray; surface dull, not pruinose; Apothecia erumpent, lirellate; lirellae slender, elongate and moderately branched; labia thin, mostly entire, but with age becoming striate (especially visible in section), shiny black, not covered by the thallus, but basally with lateral thallus hem; disc concealed, a thin slit; exciple laterally carbonized, open below; hymenium hyaline, clear (not inspers), I–; ascospores hyaline, I+ bluish violet, 4(-6) per ascus, ellipsoid to broadly ellipsoid, 17-35 x 8-12 µm, muriform 5-6 vs. 1-3 celled.

The labia of G. elongata are inconspicuously striate. This striation is easily overlooked, and often discernible only in microscopic cross-sections. Superficially the species closely resembles G. tenella and G. duplicata, which both also have inconspicuously striate lirellae. However, G. tenella and G. duplicata never contain norstictic acid and they have transversely septate, not muriform spores (for differences between the two species see the notes for G. duplicata). Graphis intricata, also quite similar, contains norstictic acid, but has transversely septate spores and a closed exciple. Chemistry: Norstictic acid; K+ orange-red (forming needle shaped crystals).