Plants medium-sized, forming loose tufts, yellow-green, blackish below; terricolous or saxicolous. Stems 10-15 mm tall, infrequently branched, tomentose below; in section round, central strand small or rarely absent in some plants, inner cortical cells large, outer cortical cells in 1-2 rows, smaller, incrassate, red-yellow. Leaves spirally twisted around stem dry, patent wet, rugose to rugulose, keeled; ligulate to broadly lanceolate, 3.5-4.0 mm long; apex obtuse to broadly acute, mucronate to apiculate; margins plane to reflexed below, entire. Costa short-excurrent, ventral superficial cells rectangular, thin-walled, smooth, dorsal superficial cells elongate, smooth, incrassate; in section reniform to subround, guide cells 3-4, ventral stereid band small, in one row over central guide cells, ventral surface cells incrassate, dorsal stereid band large, 4-5 cells thick, dorsal surface cells substereids. Upper laminal cells hexagonal to quadrate, papillose with 4-6 low papillae over lumen; basal leaf cells large, rectangular, smooth, becoming narrowly rectangular toward margin. Sporophytes not seen on Southern African plants. Setae in Ugandan plants are 10-12 mm long and capsules cylindrical, 2.5-3.0 mm long. The Ugandan plants are frequently twice as tall as Southern African specimens.
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