[2] First discovered in 2003 in Montana, United States, it typically appears as a grayish or greenish crust on tree bark, particularly on conifers like pines and firs.

The type specimen was collected in Lincoln County, Montana, in the northern Salish Mountains, in a forest on the south side of Edna Creek, approximately 7.5 km (4.7 mi) southwest of Trego.

[3] Klaus Kalb, H. Thorsten Lumbsch, and John Elix transferred the taxon to Ramboldia in 2008 following a molecular phylogenetics study of the genus.

[5] Ramboldia gowardiana has a crust-like thallus, which can range in color from grey and greyish olive to greenish-grey and whitish, particularly near the edges.

The thallus is typically cracked and divided into small, irregular sections (rimose-areolate) and can be somewhat warty (verruculose or verrucose), though it is rarely smooth.

[3] The lichen contains a green algal partner (photobiont) of the trebouxioid type, with cells that are typically spherical or slightly oval, measuring between 6 and 26 μm in diameter.

However, B. rubricosa has a yellowish thallus due to the presence of usnic acid, narrow, multi-septate spores, and typically grows on hard, decorticated wood rather than bark.

[3] Ramboldia gowardiana is found in dry, temperate forests, predominantly growing on the bark of twigs and branches of conifers at elevations ranging from 300 to 1,400 meters.

[3] In northwestern Montana, R. gowardiana can be particularly abundant on the bark of Larix occidentalis branches and fine twigs, though it also grows on other conifers such as Abies grandis (grand fir), Abies lasiocarpa (subalpine fir), and Pinus monticola (western white pine), and rarely on Acer glabrum (Rocky Mountain maple).

[6] In contrast, Ramboldia cinnabarina, a related species, tends to inhabit upper montane to subalpine forests, particularly on the trunks of Abies lasiocarpa and Picea engelmannii in areas with more consistent snow cover.

[3] Ramboldia gowardiana is known to occur from coastal southern Alaska to northern California, extending inland to Idaho and Montana.