Found in China, it was described as a new species in 2001 by Sheng-Lan Wang, Jian-Bin Chen, and John Alan Elix.

The type specimen was collected from Mount Gongshan (Yunnan) at an altitude of 1,500 m (4,900 ft); here it was found growing on a rock.

Its specific epithet refers to the presence of salazinic acid, a secondary chemical rare in Myelochroa, and at the time of its publication, the only member of the genus to contain this chemical as the main metabolite of the medulla.

[1] Myelochroa salazinica has a foliose (leafy), pale mineral-grey thallus measuring 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in) wide.

It lacks isidia but has regions of soredia around the margins of the thallus that sometimes coalesce into large soralia.