Found within the Ozark National Scenic Riverway's Prairie Hollow Gorge Natural Area, the type specimen was collected on a shaded rhyolite face under a massive overhang on a west-facing slope.

The unstratified and adherent thallus forms small, round or irregular soralium-like colonies, which can expand into larger continuous patches.

It is distinguished by its larger granules (typically 170–250 μm in diameter), the presence of a distinctly pseudo-areolate thallus, and the lack of an unidentified secondary substance.

[3] Chrysothrix bergeri is lookalike with similar secondary chemistry and distribution, but it is distinguished from C. insulizans by its continuous thallus and corticolous substrate preference.

These findings, especially those from Maine and Michigan, suggest there may be another distinct taxon related to Chrysothrix insulizans, which could require molecular methods for definitive classification.