Plants usually 3-10 cm, occasionally longer. Stems usually simple, not tomentose or with dense reddish or whitish tomentum. Leaves 3-12 mm, erect-patent or appressed foliate, narrowly lanceolate, ending in a smooth or denticulate, straight or reflexed tip; alar cells large, inflated, hyaline or reddish brown, or not differentiated; basal laminal cells thin-walled, hyaline, or thick-walled, chlorophyllose, sometimes with pitted walls, rectangular to subquadrate; distal laminal cell walls incrassate, quadrate to short-rectangular, oblique, or oval to elongate oval; costa strong, filling 1/3-4/5 of leaf width, excurrent in a more or less long, chlorophyllose or hyaline awn, in transverse section showing a median band of deuters, an adaxial layer of hyalocysts, substereids or stereids, and abaxially layers of stereid or non-stereid cells, and an abaxial row of chlorocysts; abaxial side of the costa smooth, ridged or lamellose. Specialized asexual reproduction by brood leaves, microphyllous branches, deciduous leaves or stem tips or rhizoidal tubers. Sexual condition dioicous. Perichaetia terminal, often bud like, rarely pseudolateral; perichaetial leaves with a broader, sheathing base and a long, narrow subula. Seta 5-10 mm, those of young sporophytes curved downward, pushing the immature capsule between the comal leaves and leaving the calyptra behind when the mature capsule curves upward, sinuose, twisted, cygneous when wet and performing uncoiling movements. Capsule erect and symmetric or curved and asymmetric, sometimes strumose, furrowed when empty; annulus present but not dehiscent; operculum rostrate, half as long as the capsule; peristome teeth divided to the middle in two prongs, reddish or orange and horizontally striate proximally, hyaline and papillose distally. Calyptra cucullate, ciliate or entire at base. Spores ca. 13 µm, smooth or papillose.
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