Niebla lobulata is a fruticose lichen that grows on rocks in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of Baja California, from Bahía de San Quintín to Vizcaíno Peninsula and offshore islands, Isla San Martín,[1] and Guadalupe Island.

[2] The species (N. lobulata) also recognized by containing sekikaic acid (with triterpenes), and by a relatively thin cortex, (0-)35–75(-100) μm thick, eroding near base, covering a fistulose medulla (solid on Guadalupe Island), which seems related to the contorted appearance of the branches.

Niebla lobulata was first recognized as distinct from other species in the genus while collecting samples for chemopreventive agents and for anticancer screening on the Vizcaíno Peninsula near Arroyo San Andrés.

A 400 gram sample of (N. lobulata) was collected among flowering plants Pachycormus discolor, Encelia stenophylla, Eriogonum encelioides, Eriogonum pondii, Salvia cedrosensis, Petalonyx linearis, Rhus lentii and various other lichens and one desert mushroom identified as having affinity to Battarraea phalloides.

The species (N. lobulata) was also found growing with Niebla usneoides, which also contains sekikaic acid but differs in having isidia (isidium).