Found in northwestern North America, it was described as a new species in 2020 by the lichenologists Toby Spribille and Tor Tønsberg.

The type specimen was collected in Glacier Bay National Park at the base of Marble Mountain (Alaska).

The specific epithet blastidiata refers to the "blastidiate thallus surface"; blastidia are vegetative propagules containing both mycobiont and photobiont, which are produced by yeast-like "budding".

[1] Toensbergia blastidiata is widespread in northwestern North America with a range extending from Kodiak Island south to the Olympic Mountains of Washington State.

tenuifolia, A. rubra, Frangula purshiana, Malus fusca, and Pinus contorta.