Most are typically isolated from soil, but several species occur as a natural part of the skin microbiota of humans and other animals.

The genus was first described by the German dermatologist Gustav Behrend in 1890, based on yeasts isolated from the hairs of a moustache where they were causing the condition known as "white piedra".

[4][5] Guého and others, however, have argued that T. beigelii should be discarded (as a dubious name) and Behrend's original T. ovoides (for which a neotype strain has also been selected) should become the type.

[6] Trichosporon species are distinguished microscopically by having yeast cells that germinate to produce hyaline hyphae that disarticulate at the septa, the hyphal compartments acting as arthroconidia (asexual propagules).

Species of Trichosporon and related genera are widespread and have been isolated from a wide range of substrates, including human hair (Trichosporon ovoides), soil (Cutaneotrichosporon guehoae), cabbages (Apiotrichum brassicae), cheese (T. caseorum), scarab beetles (Apiotrichum scarabaeorum), parrot droppings (T. coremiiforme), and sea water (Cutaneotrichosporon dermatis).

Occasionally, particularly in circumstances of high humidity, the fungus can proliferate, causing an unpleasant but harmless hair condition known as white piedra.