Thallus: saxicolous, rigid, ascending, 1 - 3 - 5 cm high, with several laciniae from a common holdfast. Laciniae grey-yellow to green-grey, moderately, mainly dichotomously branched, 1 - 3 - 6 mm broad, sublinear, flat or weakly channeled, distinctly reticulately ridged along their length, often most prominent on underside. Pseudocyphellae absent. Soralia absent. Cortex 40 - 50 µm thick, chondroid cylinder absent, medulla of medium density, with several imbedded strands of chondroid tissue. Pycnidia not seen. Apothecia common, usually numerous, marginal and laminal in distal half of the branch, often apically situated, deeply concave and cupuliform for a long time, at length becoming flat, thalline exciple smooth or weakly ridged, disc up to 6 mm in diameter, more or less radially split, spores 8 - 10 - 12.5 / 3 - 4 - 4.5 µm (Krog & Østhagen 1980: 269).

Chemistry:
Chemical race 1: Norstictic acid, more or less bourgeanic acid, triterpenoids.
Chemical race 2: Protocetraric acid, fatty acid, triterpenoids.
Chemical race 3: Salacinic acid, bourgeanic acid, triterpenoids.
Chemical race 4: Bourgeanic acid, triterpenoids (Krog & Østhagen 1980: 267).

Ecology: Slightly more moisture dependent than Ramalina bourgeana, although it occurs both in the eastern and the western Canary Islands, growing between 20 and 1000 meter altitude, but most common between 400 and 700 meter (Krog & Østhagen 1980: 269).