Found in Thailand, it was formally described as a new species in 2002 by lichenologists Natsurang Homchantara and Brian J. Coppins.

The type specimen was collected from Doi Suthep National Park (Chiang Mai Province) at an elevation of 1,550 m (5,090 ft); it prefers growing on foliose lichens or mats of moss.

The lichen has a smooth and shiny, pale straw-coloured thallus with a dense cortex and a white medulla.

It makes large, colourless and thick-walled muriform (chambered) ascospores typically measuring 84–105.5 by 22.5–30.5 μm.

The specific epithet honours Anthony Whalley, emeritus professor at Liverpool John Moores University.