It is found in the northern Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America, where it grows on rocks and on the trunks of paper birch and balsam fir.

The lichen was formally described as a new species in 2011 by Pradeep Divakar, Ana Crespo, and Maria del Carmen Molina.

The species epithet honors North American lichenologist Philip F. May, who collected the type specimens from Mount Everett (Berkshire County, Massachusetts) at an altitude of 790 m (2,590 ft).

Because of its close visible resemblance, it had previously been misidentified as that species until molecular phylogenetic analysis showed it to be genetically distinct.

The thallus surface, which features small pits and depressions, has pseudocyphellae (tiny pores for gas exchange) and isidia, but lacks soralia.