The lichen was formally described as new to science in 2011 by the lichenologists Kumelachew Yeshitela, Eberhard Fischer, Dorothee Killmann, and Emmanuël Sérusiaux.

The type specimen was collected by the first author from Budongo Forest at an elevation of 1,000 m (3,300 ft), where it was found growing on the leaves of Argomuellera macrophylla.

[1] Tricharia nigriuncinata is a leaf-dwelling (epiphyllous) lichen that forms a continuous, smooth, and thin thallus that is greyish-green in colour and spans up to 5 mm in width.

The lichen is characterised by its abundance of sterile setae, which are black, setiform, and can be simple or adorned with 1 to 6 horizontal or downward-bending hooks near the middle.

[1] In the structure of the apothecia, the excipulum is gelatinised and prosoplectenchymatous (i.e., its constituent fungal hyphae are all aligned in a particular direction), measuring 20 to 30 μm in thickness and light brown in colour.