[8] The order was proposed in 1955 as Dothideomycetes with perithecioid ascomata with pseudoparaphyses amongst the asci, at which time there were seven families (Botryosphaeriaceae, Didymosphaeriaceae, Herpotrichiellaceae, Lophiostomataceae, Mesnieraceae, Pleosporaceae, and Venturiaceae).

[16] A suborder, Pleosporineae has been proposed, including four families (Didymellaceae, Leptosphaeriaceae, Phaeosphaeriaceae and Pleosporaceae).

[1] Families Ascocylindricaceae, Coniothyriaceae, Cucurbitariaceae, Dothidotthiaceae, Halojulellaceae, Neopyrenochaetaceae, Neophaeosphaeriaceae, Parapyrenochaetaceae, Pseudopyrenochaetaceae, Pyrenochaetopsidaceae, Shiraiaceae and Tzeananiaceae joined them later in 2015.

[1] As a result of phylogenetic studies, the Pleosporales have undergone considerable reorganisation, particularly with reference to the very large genus Phoma and the family Didymellaceae.

[9] The oldest members of Pleosporales are the fossil genera Margaretbarromyces, which was described from Eocene age strata on Vancouver Island, British Columbia,[20] and Cryptodidymosphaerites, described from the Ypresian Princeton chert in the British Columbian interior.