A family of perithecial ascomycetes within the Sordariales, comprising mostly saprobic, wood and dung inhabiting fungi with dark, carbonaceous fruiting bodies and often ornate ascospores. The group is taxonomically complex, historically broad, and now more narrowly circumscribed due to molecular phylogenetics.

A genus of dark, carbonaceous, perithecial ascomycetes. Species are primarily saprobic, occurring on wood, plant debris, soil litter, and dung-rich substrates.