Amandinea punctata

Thallus thin or inconspicuous to thickish, rarely more than 0.5 mm thick at the centre, smooth to rimose and often warted, pale to dark grey, rarely brown; a dark or grey prothallus rarely present; medulla I−. Apothecia numerous, 0.2–0.6 mm diam., superficial; disc flat to slightly convex, rarely strongly so; true exciple thin, persistent, sometimes later excluded; epithecium brown, N−; hypothecium pale to dark brown; hymenium without oil droplets. Ascospores (8.5–) 11.5–16 (–19.5) × (4.5–) 6–8 (–10.5) µm, usually slightly curved; wall scarcely thickened near the septum (Buellia-type when mature, may tend towards Physconia-type initially), smooth. Pycnidia sparse; conidia 14–20 × 0.5–1 µm, curved, thread-like.

Common and very variable. Many records on coastal rocks refer to Amandinea pelidna, which has internal wall thickenings near the septum. Similar, but rarer, species on rocks include A. coniops (thallus of aggregated brown areoles that are often warty), Buellia abstracta (thallus K+ yellow→red (crystals) & narrrower spores) and  B. spuria (thallus K+ yellow-orange); and on bark or wood, B. pulverea (thallus C+ pink, effuse & powdery-granular,) and B. schaereri (smaller thin walled spores). Superficially similar species on twigs are Catillaria nigroclavata and Orcularia insperata, both have smaller disks and distinct spores. Lecidella elaeochroma which grows in similar habitats differs in the UV+ orange and C+ orange reaction of the thallus, the broad true exciple, particularly in young apothecia, and the unicellular spores. Buellia hyperbolica has a whiter Pd+ red-orange thallus and larger spores and found in less nutrient enriched habitats.