 The family was established in 1897 by German mycologist Gustav Lindau to accommodate species of fungi having "gymnocarpous" basidiocarps (with the hymenium exposed) and "auricularioid" basidia (more or less cylindrical basidia with lateral septa).It included not only the genus "Auricularia", but also "Platygloea", "Jola", "Saccoblastia", and "Stypinella" (= "Helicobasidium").In 1922, British mycologist Carleton Rea recognized the family as containing the genera "Auricularia", "Eocronartium", "Helicobasidium", "Platygloea", and "Stilbum".