Fruiting body a pseudoaethalium consisting of densely massed, cylindrical to ellipsoid sporangia, umber to dark brown. Hypothallus spongy, sometimes forming a stout, stalk-like structure. Peridium membranous, persistent except at the apices of the individual sporangia. Pseudocapillitium sparse or absent. Spores light yellow-brown to cocoa-brown or rust-brown in mass, at least partially (but usually faintly) reticulate.
Seven different species of Tubifera have been described (Lado 2001), but only one of these (Tubifera ferruginosa) has been reported from New Zealand. Some species of Tubifera are characterised by a pseudoaethalium that is elevated on a stalk-like hypothallus, but this is not the case for T. ferruginosa.