It is distinguished from others species in genus Herpothallon by its unique colouration: a combination of a grey thallus with a bright red hypothallus and orange-tipped pseudoisidia.

Its type specimen was found by the authors in the Parque Estadual Acaraípt [pt] (São Francisco do Sul, Santa Catarina).

Unique to this species is a bright red underlayer, or hypothallus, and margin, along with orange pseudoisidia in the centre of the thallus.

What sets Herpothallon tricolor apart from other species within the same genus is the unique combination of a grey thallus with a bright red hypothallus and orange-tipped pseudoisidia.

[2] Herpothallon tricolor is found on tree bark within the restinga ecosystems, a type of coastal forest common in Brazil.