An often easy to recognise family as the spore mass is typically brightly coloured, producing stalked or
sessile sporangia. A
capillitium often consisting of solid or tubular, smooth or sculptured, free or attached threadlike elements.
Sporangia stalked or sessile; capillitium a more or less elastic network of branching threads, thickened with from two to six continuous, spiral bands, as in the genus Trichia; bands winding in a sinistral direction.
Sporangia subglobose or irregular, sessile or forming plasmodiocarps, rarely short-stalked; sporangial wall usually of two layers, the outer thickened with angular granules which are exceptionally absent in the upper part, the inner usually membranous; capillitiuni of branching or simple, tubular, inelastic threads, spinose, minutely warted, or nearly smooth, usually marked with irregular constrictions; spores yellow or brown, minutely warted.
Sporangia stalked, sessile, or forming plasmodiocarps; sporangial wall membranous or cartilaginous; elaters free, pointed at each end, thickened with two to five spiral bands; spores reticulate or warted; in the former case the reticulation may be continuous or broken, and forms when seen in profile a border to the spore.