Vermilacinia paleoderma is a pale yellow-green fruticose lichen that occurs commonly along the fog zone of the Pacific Coast of Northern Vizcaíno Desert region of Baja Californica and occasionally in the Chaparral Islands of California.

It often grows in small tufts with species of Niebla, or in extensive pure colonies on rock outcrops on ridges that receive more fog from ocean wind [1] Although Vermilacinia paleoderma is widely distributed, it had remained unknown until 1996.

[1] In 1994, two closely related species were described; Vermilacinia cedrosensis was first distinguished (as Niebla cedrosensis) from thalli growing on Cedros Island by the cylindrical shape of the branches, and recognized to also occur on the Vizcaíno Peninsula at Punta Eugenia,[2] in contrast to Vermilacinia polymorpha (synonym Niebla polymorpha) distinguished by its irregularly dilated branch segments, based on specimens from Santa Catalina Island and nearby California mainland.

[1] Another closely related species, V. reptilioderma, which differs by chemistry in having the tripterpenes, referred to as T1 and T2 by where they form spots on thin-layer chromatography plates, was considered a synonym of Niebla cedrosensis.

It was stated by Darrell Wright[5] “that not one of the eight substances found in N. laevigata [= Vermilacinia laevigata] appears to correspond to any of the seven substances in its congener, N. homalea.” Additionally, cortical differences were described by Peter Bowler: as (1) a “thick outer cortex with palisade cell lines and a subtending layer of supportive tissue,” "[6] corresponding to the genus Niebla, (2) “a thin cortex of branching hyphae in a matrix with mechanical tissue either absent or sparsely present,[6]” corresponding to subgenus Cylindricaria,[1] and (3), cortex “a thick mechanical layer and a variable palisade layer,” [6] corresponding to subgenus Vermilacinia.