Fruiting body a hemispherical, spherical, pulvinate or oval aethalium, variable in diameter, 0.4–5.0 cm, crowded, gregarious or solitary. Hypothallus usually inconspicuous but sometimes forming a narrow fringe around the bases of individual aethalia. Cortex rarely membranous, usually thick and in that case consisting of two or more solid layers. Pseudocapillitium consisting of hollow branched tubules, the latter smooth or wrinked, colourless or pallid. Spores rather small, at first pink or grey but becoming pale ochraceous or almost colourless in transmitted light, the wall thin, covered with a fine-meshed reticulum consisting of narrow bands.
Five species have been described in the genus Lycogala (Lado 2001), and three of these are known from New Zealand.