[2] The genus was circumscribed in 2020 by lichenologists D.Liu, Jae-Seoun Hur, and Sergey Kondratyuk, with P. subdeflexa assigned as the type species.

[3] The genus name alludes to its resemblance to genus Candelariella, from which it differs due to its squamulose thallus and the production of conidia from conidiogenous cells on its lower surface, in contrast to Candelariella which produces conidia from pycnidia on its upper surface.

[6] Protocandelariella is characterized by a thallus that is often squamulose (scaley) in appearance, although it can sometimes be less defined and take on a granular to indistinct texture.

These apothecia typically house eight-spored asci, and the ascospores themselves are clear (hyaline), varying in shape from narrowly ellipsoid to ovoid.

Instead, the underside of the squamules is often covered with conidiophores, and the conidia they produce are clear and roughly spherical in shape.