[1] Vermilacinia ligulata is distinguished by its thallus divided into relatively few basal branches, generally less than 10, although it may appear to have more by its gregarious habit, and by lacking a blackened base, not reaching more than 3 cm in height, appearing strongly crinkled and twisted with wavy branch margins (when dry), and by having lichen substances of triterpenes, referred to as T1 and T2, along with zeorin and (-)-16 α-hydroxykaurane; T3, which occurs in most related species, was not noted.

The branches are often partly tubular near base, and strap shaped above, initially creeping along the substrate for a short distance before ascending upwards, and frequently divided more or less in a digitate (palmate) fashion.

These species are distinguished by the presence or absence of chondroid strands in the medulla, and by their chemistry, N. contorta has divaricatic acid and triterpenes not found in Vermilacinia.

[1] Vermilacinia laevigata differs by its larger thallus that often has blackened parts, is more uniformly compressed with blade-like branches that are mostly simple, and by the presence of the T3 compound, instead of the T1 and T2 triterpenes, and is geographically confined to the California Floristic Province.

The triterpenes of V. ligulata, commonly referred to as T1 and T2 by their Rf values on thin-layer chromatography plates, have formulas of C30H50O2 (T1) and C30H50OO (T2) as determined by mass spectrometry of a sample of V. reptilioderma.