Vermilacinia tigrina was first described by Gerhard Follmann in the genus Ramalina, based on a thallus growing on the ground among cacti in the Atacama Desert at 600 m (2,000 ft) elevation on Cerro Moreno in northern Chile.

He distinguished the species by its lichen substance of psoromic acid, and by its habit of growing on earth (terricolous).

This was in contrast to other species of Ramalina he recognized in a “Ceruchis” group,[2] largely defined by the presence of (-)-16-hydroxykaurane (“ceruchinol”).

[7] In a 1981 study of the cortical structure of the Ramalinaceae,[8] Bowler recognized that: “Within Niebla two major evolutionary directions have influenced the anatomy of the cortex.

The compressed species have strongly palisade outer cortices overlying mechanical tissue, while the terete species have tended to lose or have depauperate formations of mechanical tissue.” In 1995, Richard Spjut further recognized significant differences in their medulla (chondroid strands vs. no chondroid strands) and in their lichen substances (zeorin and (-)-16-hydroxykaurane vs. their absence).