[3] They are commonly called gold dust lichens or sulfur dust lichens,[4]: 253  because they are bright yellow to greenish-yellow, sometimes flecked with orange, and composed entirely of powdery soredia.

[5] Chrysothrix chlorina was traditionally used as a brown dye for wool in Scandinavia.

[6] The genus was circumscribed by French botanist Camille Montagne in 1852, with Chrysothrix noli-tangere assigned as the type species.

[7] In 2012, Jack Laundon submitted a formal proposal to conserve the name Chrysothrix against Alysphaeria, published 25 years earlier than Chrysothrix, citing the need for "nomenclatural stability".

[8] The proposal was accepted by the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi in 2017, who noted that Chrysothrix was already conserved against Pulveraria.