The genus was circumscribed by Italian lichenologist Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo in 1855, with Solenopsora requienii assigned as the type species.

[4] Solenopsora lichens produce thalli of various morphologies, including crust-like (crustose), scaley (squamulose), and leafy (foliose).

This means that they have a prominent, amyloid tholus (the thickened inner part of the tip of an ascus) that lacks any internal differentiation such as an axial body.

They have simple (i.e. unbranched) paraphyses with an internal brown pigmentation and club-shaped tips.

[5] Catillaria is a closely related genus that differs mainly in having a thallus that is always crustose, and apothecia with a proper margin.