Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bungartz, F., (eds.) 2004. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 2.

Thallus: fruticose to subfruticose, up to 1 cm tall, lobate, attached by the base lobes: dorsiventral, 0.2-1.5 mm wide; tips: very narrow, pointed or breaking up into soralia, 0.1-0.2 mm wide upper surface: yellow to bright orange, smooth soredia: powdery, in soralia, in broad orbicular ruptures, that sometimes occur at the lobe tips medulla: white, reticulate, with short to elongate hyphae lower surface: white to yellow, smooth, locally sorediate Apothecia: rare, laminal, stipitate, up to 1.5 mm in diam.; margin: smooth; disc: orange asci: clavate, 8-spored ascospores: ellipsoid, polarbilocular, hyaline, 14-16 x 5-6 µm; septum: 3-5 µm wide Pycnidia: immersed, orange conidia: ellipsoid, 2-3 x 1-1.5 µm Spot tests: upper surface K+ purple, C-, KC-, P- Secondary metabolites: not investigated. Habitat and ecology: on bark, mostly on Salix and Baccharis, in coastal scrub and riparian communities World distribution: known only from California (Marin Co., Mendocino Co., Santa Cruz Co., Sonoma Co., Ventura Co.) Sonoran distribution: coastal, southern California. Notes: Xanthoria pollinarioides was recently discovered, and the present description is based on Wright (2000) and further observations by Lindblom. It superficially resembles some members of the genus Teloschistes, but the anatomy of the cortex is different and the conidia are ellipsoid, suggesting that it is best kept in Xanthoria. The species epithet points to the similarity of the soralia to those of Ramalina pollinaria.