Punctelia borreri is named after William Borrer, a botanist who made the first scientific collections of the lichen in early 19th-century England.

The first scientific collections of the lichen were made by another English botanist, William Borrer, whose name is honoured in the species epithet borreri.

Smith described the specific characteristics of the new species as follows: "Leafy, slightly imbricated, tawny grey, even, sprinkled with white powdery warts; its segments sinuated, rounded at the ends: brown and fibrous beneath.

The species had been independently named and described as Parmelia borreri a year earlier in 1806 by Dawson Turner, who, like Smith, had examined specimens sent to him by Borrer.

Turner presented his findings to the Linnean Society of London on 3 June 1806, and in a subsequent publication two years later, he gave the lichen a more thorough description in both English and Latin.

Turner mentions that he had sent samples to prominent Swedish botanists Erik Acharius and Olof Swartz, "both of whom acknowledged it altogether new to them, and a very distinct species".

Similar to Smith's account, Turner's description of the lichen also compares and contrasts it with Parmelia saxatilis; in Turner's opinion, two main characteristics distinguish the two species: ... the thallus of P. borreri is every where even, and destitute of those elevated veins so remarkable and so constant in P. saxatilis; and that the soredia, which in this species are placed upon these veins, as if from their naturally bursting, and which are often confluent to some length, are in P. borreri scatterd [sic] without order over the whole plant, and sometimes in old specimens so numerous as to cover the whole of it except the tips.

Although Turner was the first to name and describe the species in his 1806 presentation to the Linnean Society, he did not publish his work until 1808, a year after Smith's publication.

[9] In a 2005 analysis of the taxonomic position of the new lichen species that were collected by Smith and published in English Botany, Jack Laundon proposed to correct the authorship after verifying that Borrer's publication date was indeed before that of Turner, and further noting that it "is now usually known as Punctelia borreri (Sm.)

[18] In some instances, taxa that were historically proposed as a subspecies or variety of Parmelia borreri have since been elevated to distinct species status.

[29] P. guanchica P. rudecta P. toxodes P. missouriensis P. aff rudecta P. ruderata P. perreticulata P. subrudecta P. jeckeri P. caseana P. pseudocoralloidea P. bolliana P. appalachensis P. hypoleucites P. borreri P. subpraesignis P. reddenda P. stictica Molecular phylogenetic analysis has been used to better understand the evolutionary relationships of Punctelia and more accurately determine the limits of species.

[31] In a 2001 study, the SSU region in the mitochondrial DNA of several species were assessed for their ability to identify evolutionary relationships in the family Parmeliaceae.

Limitations in the early applications of this technique were highlighted when the data suggested that P. borreri was more closely related to Melanohalea elegantula than to its congener, Punctelia subflava.

[36] The thallus of Punctelia borreri is foliose (leafy), forming rosettes that are closely attached to their substrate, measuring up to 10 cm (4 in) in diameter.

[37] Apothecia (sexual propagules) are rarely made by this species; when present, they are lecanorine in form with a width of 2–8 mm (0.08–0.3 in), and with a thalline margin that is often sorediate.

[39] Spier and van Herk have suggested that the colour of the thallus underside gets darker with age, which would explain why the centres of the thalli (the oldest part) are the darkest.

[45] There are numerous black or pale brown unbranched rhizines present; these function as holdfasts that attach the thallus to the substrate.

[45] Also, Punctelia subrudecta reacts C+ red in the medulla, indicating the presence of lecanoric acid as its main secondary chemical.

[6] Another lookalike is P. stictica, which can be distinguished from P. borreri by its saxicolous growth, brown margins on the upper thallus surface, and pseudocyphellae that are irregularly shaped.

[57] Before its range expansion in Europe, Punctelia borreri was noted to have a strongly oceanic distribution with scattered occurrences in the central part of the continent.

[59] In Ireland, the lichen tends to grow on deciduous trees found in well-lit and nutrient-rich areas, such as near farms, by rivers, along hedgerows, and in gardens or orchards.

[61] Even a plastic light fixture can be a potential substrate for this lichen, provided that it is suitably enriched by eutrophication, such as that which occurs as a result of being a resting spot for birds.

When the municipal council of Leusden (Netherlands) decided to replace the plastic lampshades of the streetlights, it was discovered that some of these fixtures, which had been located in an urban tree-rich environment for 25 to 40 years, were covered with lichens, sometimes completely.

[45] Similarly, in the Czech Republic, P. borreri was one of several species of lichens noted to recolonise the lichen-impoverished landscape after the desulfurization of coal power plants in the early 1990s.

[63] Changes in the geographical range and regional frequencies of P. borerri have also been attributed to rising temperatures observed in recent decades in central Europe.

[64][65] In a 2017 German study determining the suitability of various local lichens as potential bioindicators of climate change, P. borreri was noted to have been very rare in the Rhineland in the 19th century, but increasingly prevalent since 2001.

[67] In the Iberian Peninsula, Punctelia borreri had been noted to be a mainly coastal species, but was reported from the central plateau for the first time in 2004 in the Parque del Oeste.

[73] Punctelia borreri has been used in traditional Chinese medicine as an alleged remedy for a variety of ailments, including chronic dermatitis, blurred vision, bleeding from the uterus or from external injuries, and for sores and swelling.

[74] In a study exploring the potential of several lichens as antidiabetic agents, P. borreri was noted for its in vitro ability to inhibit α-amylase, a key enzyme of carbohydrate digestion.