The type specimen was found in Uttarakhand, India, on a Quercus semecarpifolia tree in the Pithoragarh district, at an elevation of 2,500 m (8,200 ft).

No lichen products were detected in the collected samples using thin-layer chromatography, and all standard chemical spot tests are negative.

In terms of morphology and chroodiscoid apothecia, Phlyctis subhimalayensis can be confused with the thelotremoid Graphidaceae (e.g. Chapsa) and the non-lichenized genus Stictis.

Nevertheless, the absence of periphysoids, the presence of chlorococcoid algae, and a poorly developed proper exciple differentiate the new species from these others.

[2] Phlyctis subhimalayensis is known to inhabit cool temperate forests in the northern and eastern Himalayas, specifically in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh, India.