Cladonia carneola

Podetia 0.5–1.5 (–2) cm tall, pale yellow-green, appearing ± translucent when wet; cups 3–6 mm diam., abruptly tapered to a long narrow stalk, ± regular with finely denticulate cups with ± even rims which rarely proliferate; surface within and outside the cups entirely farinose-sorediate. Basal squamules often rather small and inconspicuous. Apothecia pale yellow-brown or pale flesh-coloured, rather rare; pycnidia dark brown; both apothecia and pycnidia on rim of cups. Thallus C–, K–, KC+ yellow, Pd–, UV– (usnic and ± barbatic acids, ± zeorin; all British material contains barbatic acid, but its presence in this species is less frequent elsewhere). Needle-like crystals of zeorin develop on the surface of specimens in dried collections. 

Related to Cladonia botrytes, which has similarly coloured apothecia and occurs in similar habitats; that species does not have podetia with cups and is not sorediate. In the absence of apothecia, it may be mistaken for the morphologically similar C. fimbriata which is Pd+ red (fumarprotocetraric acid) and is grey, not yellowish green. The chemically and morphologically similar yellow-green C. pleurota has podetia which are ± corticate at the base and thus usually lacking soredia there, but has red rather than pale brown apothecia.