Small, inconspicuous, saprobic mushrooms on soil and litter. Cap typically viscid and striate.

Three species have been reported from New Zealand, only those listed below have descriptions or images available from NZFungi.

Basidiospores smooth, relatively thick-walled, with distinct, often very prominent germ-pore, rust-colour in mass. Basidia 4-spored, very rarely 2-spored, and in one New Zealand species more than 4-spored, usually separated by distinct, inflated brachycystidia. Gill-trama regular becoming irregular to alveplate with age. Cheilocystidia distinct, vesiculose to inflated, sometimes with differentiated neck; pleurocystidia if present usually similar to cheilocystidia. Pileipellis a distinct palisadoderm covered with a gelatinous pellicle; 'scalp' cellular. Stipitipellis of hyaline, cylindric, parallel cells covered in part or throughout in caulocystidia similar to those on gill-margin.

Development paravelangiocarpic.

On the ground in woods, pastures, heaths etc., on dung, plant remains and refuse, and on wood; saprophytes. Those species on wood have often been placed in the separate genus Pluteolus.

One species B. muscicola appears to be endemic and widespread in mixed forest on very soft wood in which it produces a stringy white rot; the other common species is B. vitellinus. Two further collections are at the moment unplaced.