Vermilacinia nylanderi is a fruticose lichen that grows on branches of shrubs in the fog regions along the Pacific Coast of North America in the Channel Islands and in Baja California from near El Rosario south to the Vizcaíno Peninsula [1] The epithet honors William Nylander who published a monograph on the related genus Ramalina in 1870.

[2] Vermilacinia nylanderi is classified in the subgenus Cylindricaria in which it is distinguished from related species by the thallus divided into numerous narrow tubular rugose branches, by the abundant fertile pycnidia,[3] and by lichen substances of zeorin and (-)-16-hydroxykaurane, occasionally with unknowns.

Conidia may also to function as “male gametes (spermatia)”[5] Vermilacinia nylanderi was first recognized by color changes in the thallus after its collection in the field, initially appearing pinkish on apical lobes, then yellow orange and then gradually turning brown within a few years.

Vermilacinia howei, which is similar to V. leopardina in the irregular black banding on thallus branches, occurs further away from the coast on the Vizcaíno Peninsula.

[1] The genus Vermilacinia is distinguished from Niebla by the absence of chondroid strands in the medulla,[9] and by the major lichen substance predominantly of terpenes.