Lobariella sipmanii was formally described as a new species in 2011 by Bibiana Moncada, Luisa Betancourt, and Robert Lücking.

The species epithet sipmanii honours the authors' colleague Harrie Sipman, "for his invaluable contributions to lichenology in the Neotropics".

The ascospores are hyaline, spindle-shaped (fusiform) to long and needle-shaped (acicular) with between 5 and 9 septa, and have dimensions of 55–115 by 4–5 μm.

Lobariella sipmanii contains gyrophoric acid as its major lichen product in addition to smaller amounts of metabolically related satellite compounds.

[1] The type specimen was collected in páramo vegetation near Lake Chisacá (Sumapaz Páramo, Bogotá) at an elevation of 3,725 m (12,221 ft); here it was found growing in partial shade on the trunks and stems of small trees.