Phaeosporobolus alpinus (images of British lichenicolous fungi)

Ascomycota, incertae sedis: forms black, stromatic areas (with hyaline hyphae within) in host thallus and apothecia; conidia of several, smooth, brown subglobose cells surrounding a mother cell. On a number of crustose lichen hosts, including Ochrolechia, Pertusaria and Lecanora, widespread but with few records, undoubtedly much under-recorded.

Refs: to be added, useful generic description by Diederich in Nash et al. (2004), 681.

P. usneae, with more numerous subglobose cells forming the conidia, is a similar species in the thalli of fruticose and some foliose lichens, including Ramalina and Usnea.

lastdragon.org

Alan Silverside's Lichen Pages: Lichenicolous Fungi