The type specimen was collected by Nash from the east slope of the Sierra de Santa Victoria [es] (Jujuy Province, Argentina) at an elevation of 4,400 m (14,400 ft).

The specific epithet refers to the presence of salazinic acid, a secondary compound that helps to distinguish it from a similar species, Psiloparmelia distincta.

[1] The yellowish-green thallus of Psiloparmelia salazinica reaches diameters of 4–5 cm (1.6–2.0 in), comprising somewhat linear, irregularly branched, contiguously placed lobes measuring 0.8–2.0 mm wide.

Pycnidia are common in this lichen; they are immersed in the surface of the thallus, and produce bifusiform conidia (i.e., rod-shaped with minute swellings at each end) measuring 0.5 by 5–6 μm.

The expected results of standard chemical spot tests are: cortex K+ (yellow-pale red), C−, PD+ (yellow-orange), while in the medulla they are K−, C−, KC−, and PD−.