It contains the single family Septobasidiaceae,[4] which itself comprises six genera: Aphelariopsis Jülich (with 1 species), Auriculoscypha D.A.

[5] The order Septobasidiales was circumscribed in 1964 by Marinus Anton Donk,[2] based on an earlier description by John Nathaniel Couch in 1938.

[8] These fungi are, effectively, zoophilic rusts whose nourishment derives wholly from partial parasitism of scale insect populations underlying crust-like fungal thalli.

[6] Later large scale studies of this genus include those by Azema (1975),[9] and the validation (Gómez & Henk, 2004)[10] of Couch's (1938),[6] many new but invalidly published species of Septobasidium.

The largest and most important genus is Septobasidium, which grows as mats of hyphae covering and embedding scale insects on branches and leaves of trees.

[7] It is very abundant in certain localities, and it also occurs on a great variety of wild and cultivated woody plants, such as citrus, apple, tea, and rubber, sometimes causing much damage.