Andreev, MP, Bredkina, LI, Golubkova, NS, Dobrysh, AA, Kotlov, YuV, Makarova, II, Urbanavichene, IN, & Urbanavichus GP. Handbook of the Lichens of Russia. 8. Bacidaceae, Catillaraceae, Lecanoraceae, Megalariaceae, Mycobilimbiaceae, Rhizocarpaceae, Tr
The thallus is crustose, very thin, fused, and whitish.
The apothecia are numerous, sometimes clustered, rarely merging into groups of 2–3, sessile, narrowing at the base, small, 0.2-0.5 mm in diameter. The disk is smooth only in the beginning, matte or weakly glossy, rusty-red, reddish-brown. It is surrounded by a margin that is unobtrusive and lighter in color than the disk. However, without the edge the disk quickly becomes strongly convex to semicircular, and dark rusty-red. Weakly paired plectenchyma (unsure of translation ? – based on root formation, adj.) , merging with the hymenium. The algae are 10–13 μm in diameter, with noticeable pyrenoids. The hymenium is colorless or with spots of light reddish tint. The epithecium is dark red and not granular. The hymenial layer can extend to a thickness of 110 μm and is uncolored. The parphyses are fused, relatively thin to slightly thick, 1.8–2 μm in thickness; at the top they slightly thicken to 2–2.5 μm, simple and branched. The asci are 40–50 μm in length, with 4 spores. The spores are ellipsoidal, and elongated 16–20 (23) x 8–12 μm. The lateral septum is 3.5–5 μm in thickness.
Epithecium K becomes manila.
On mosses and on the thallus of Cladonia (Cladonia pyxidata)
Arctic (Novosibirsk Islands, the islands of Norway), Karelia – Northern Europe
The species is differentiated from C. tetraspora by its noticeably small spores and asci. If it were not for this important feature, then C. tetrasporella may have been thought of as a subspecies of C. tetraspora.