[1] Found in Europe and northwestern North America, it was formally described as a new species in 2004 by the Norwegian lichenologist Tor Tønsberg.

These rosettes often merge with other neighbouring thalli to create a coarse, irregularly spreading, nearly continuous crust that can extend up to a decimeter or more in width.

It supports numerous fragile lobules (small lobes) that can be horizontal to vertical, regular to irregular, and easily detached.

The photobiont (photosynthetic partner) is organized in roughly spherical groups, 24–50 μm in diameter, within the diaspores and forms a nearly continuous layer just beneath the thallus surface.

[2] Lepraria xerophila typically grows on dry soil, though it is occasionally found on bare rock and on wood.