[2] Podotara was first defined and described by William Malcolm and Antonín Vězda, stemming from the discovery of an unusual crustose lichen exhibiting spherical, stalked apothecia found growing on the leaves of an endemic podocarp in New Zealand.

Despite the resemblance of its pale, spherical, orange-pink, stalked apothecia to those of Baeomyces, the amyloid apical dome and darker blue tube structure of its asci firmly rule out any such correlation.

Although the iodine potassium-iodide (IKI) starch-staining reaction of its ascus apex suggests similarity with Porpidia or Mycobilimbia, the presence of stalked apothecia and the absence of an ornamented perispore in its ascospores set it apart.

Characteristically, the thallus exhibits a white hue, around 0.1 mm in thickness, incorporating green algal cells belonging to the genus Trebouxia.

[2] The habitat of Podotara pilophoriformis is highly specialised, with the species growing epiphyllously (i.e., on the upper surface) on the leaves of Podocarpus totara, a native podocarp in New Zealand.

[2] Some other lichens that typically grow in association with P. pilophoriformis include Bactrospora metabola, Bacidia sp., Lecanora sp., Megalaria grossa, and Rinodina malcolmii.