[1] It was one of 93 species that was transferred to Xanthoparmelia when Mason Hale promoted that taxon from subgeneric to generic status in 1974.

[4] Xanthoparmelia lineola is one of several morphologically similar species that contain salazinic acid and form a continuum based on the degree of agnation to the substrate.

Populations from Australia previously considered X. lineola have been since characterized with DNA analysis and assigned to a new species, X. knudsenii.

In a study of Xanthoparmelia lichens in Arizona, Thomas Nash observed that this species seemed to develop best at elevations of 1,500–2,100 metres (4,900–6,900 ft), where individuals grew to cover half or more of the exposed rock face beneath ponderosa pines.

[7] Five morphologically similar chemotypes of Xanthoparmelia lineola are known from North America: X. subdecipiens, X. cumberlandia, X. oleosa, and X. novomexicana.