Placomaronea mendozae is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Candelariaceae.

[2] Found in South America and the United States, it was formally described as a new species in 1941 by Finnish lichenologist Veli Räsänen.

The type specimen was collected in Las Heras, Mendoza (Argentina) in 1939.

Räsänen named it as a variety of Candelariella vitellina;[3] Martin Westberg promoted the taxon to distinct species status in 2004.

[4] The lichen occurs along the Andes in Argentina and Peru, and in Arizona, USA.