The lichen was first formally described as a new species in 1866 by American botanist Edward Tuckerman in 1866, as Placodium bolacinum.

[3] Ulf Arup and colleagues transferred the taxon to the genus Polycauliona in 2013, as part of a molecular phylogenetics-based restructuring of family Teloschistaceae.

Its structure is primarily made up of thick squamules or convex areoles, which are either scattered or situated closely together.

The apothecia (fruiting bodies) range from 0.7 to 2 mm in diameter, with orange disks and margins that are slightly paler in comparison.

The tissues of the apothecia, including the exciple and cortex, consist of elongated cells arranged in an irregular pattern.