Series 2. GYMNOCARPEAE
Subseries 1. CONIOCARPINEAE

This is a well-defined group, peculiar in the disappearance of the asci at an early stage so that the spores lie like a powder in the globose partly closed fruits. Algal cells, bright-green; Protococcaceae. There are only three families:

XV.CALICIACEAE.Thallus crustaceous, apothecia stalked.
XVI.CYPHELIACEAE.Thallus crustaceous, apothecia sessile.
XVII.SPHAEROPHORACEAE.Thallus foliose or fruticose, apothecia sessile.
Subseries 2. GRAPHIDINEAE

This subseries comes next in the form of fruit development; generally the apothecia are elongate, with a narrow slit-like opening, so that a transverse section shows almost a perithecial outline. Algal cells are mostly Trentepohlia.

XVIII.ARTHONIACEAE.Thallus crustaceous, apothecia oval or linear, flat.
XIX.GRAPHIDACEAE.Thallus crustaceous, apothecia linear, raised.
XX.CHIODECTONACEAE.Thallus crustaceous, apothecia generally immersed in a stroma.
XXI.DIRINACEAE.Thallus crustaceous, corticate above, apothecia round.
XXII.ROCCELLACEAE.Thallus fruticose, apothecia round or elongate.
Subseries 3. CYCLOCARPINEAE

A large and very varied group! In most of the families the algal cells are bright-green (Chlorophyceae), in some they are blue-green (Cyanophyceae), these latter corresponding to Reinke’s order Cyanophili. The apothecia, as the name implies, are round and open; the “Cyanophili” have been placed by Zahlbruckner after those families in which the apothecium has no thalline margin. They form a phylum distinct from those that precede and those that follow.