The lichen has a leafy (foliose)
thallus, pale to yellow-gray in colour (older individuals are browner), measuring wide with crowded, overlapping lobes 2–7 mm wide. It has a wrinkled, tan to brown lower surface and brown
rhizines that serve as
holdfasts to attach it to its
substrate. The
apothecia (reproductive organs) are common in this species; they are 2–3 mm wide with a concave, red-brown to dark brown disc. Its
ascospores are
ellipsoid and measure 9–12 by 7–8
μm. Its
conidia (asexual spores) are bifusiform (i.e., threadlike with a swelling at both ends), measuring 6–10 by 0.7–1.0 μm.
Pseudoparmelia kalbiana contains
secalonic acid as a major
secondary chemical in the
cortex with
atranorin and
chloroatranorin as minor metabolites. The
medulla contains
secalonic acid A and
hypostictic acid as major metabolites and
hyposalazinic acid as a minor component. ==Habitat and distribution==