Xanthoparmelia competita is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in Southern Africa, it was formally described as a new species in 1986 by the American lichenologist Mason Hale. The type specimen was collected in Cape Province at an elevation of about , where it was growing on domes of coarse conglomerate in Fynbos. The lichen has a dull yellowish-green thallus that grows to in diameter, comprising somewhat irregular that measure 0.7âÂÂ1.5 mm wide.