A synthesis on the distribution of the protected lichen species Xanthoparmelia pulvinaris in Hungary is provided. In addition to summarising the herbarium and published data, we have significantly increased the number of known occurrences with systematic field mapping and clarified the distribution pattern of the species in Hungary. The species occurs in the sandy areas of the Great Hungarian and the Little Hungarian Plains, in the southern and southeastern margins and sporadically in the inner hilly landscapes of the Transdanubian Mountain Ranges. Xanthoparmelia pulvinaris is a characteristic species of the open steppe habitats, further important evidence of the plant-geography and historical vegetation development relationships between the sandy grasslands of the plains and the limestone and dolomite rocky grasslands of the middle mountains. Its stronger stands persisted on the eastern edge of the Vértes Mts and in some sand steppes of good natural condition of the Great Hungarian Plain. Most of its mapped occurrences represent small, vulnerable populations.