Found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it was formally described as a new species in 2014 by Dries Van den Broeck, Robert Lücking, and Damien Ertz.

The type specimen was collected by the first author at the Lomami River (Yaengo, Orientale Province) at an altitude of 487 m (1,598 ft).

The species epithet honours Museum of Natural Sciences of Belgium zoologist Erik Verheyen.

The photobiont partner is green, and present as angular to rounded cells measuring 5–10 by 5–6 μm; they occur in radiating plates or in irregular groups.

Phylloblastia borhidii is similar in morphology, but that species does have isidia and has larger and wider spores.