The conidial state usually takes the form of blackish pycnidia which contain minute single-celled conidia which probably function as spermatia. The ascomata, which follow the pycnidia, are larger but also usually black, opening with one to several splits in the covering layer to reveal the hymenium. Paraphyses are usually present. Asci are mostly thin-walled, with only one functional wall layer and an apex which almost never blues in iodine. The ascospores are almost invariably colourless, usually aseptate, and often long and thin.
Spore release is mostly violent in humid conditions.
The zone lines, pycnidia and ascocarps produced by tarspot fungi are all long-lasting, so that they are usually all seen at the same time in the field, and observational work can be carried out at any time of year. Most tarspot fungi are found only on particular plants, and on those plants the habitat they occupy is usually well-defined. To record these fungi it is therefore merely necessary to find the correct associated plant and then the correct part of that plant in the correct conditions for the tarspot fungus required. Where the fungus does not have a known preferred plant, or where the exact niche is not properly understood, collecting can be largely a matter of chance. In Britain, where about 25 more species of this order are known to occur than in Ukraine, this percentage is rather higher, suggesting that further collecting in Ukraine will reveal more species with improperly understood niches.