Plants small, light green to grey-green, caespitose; terricolous. Stems erect, 2-6 mm high, arising from a brownish, highly branched, long-creeping rhizome; in section rhizome round, central strand absent, cortical cells in 6 rows, large, thin-walled, outer 2 rows smaller, brownish; branches in section round, central strand not well defined, of 8-10 smaller, thin-walled cells. Leaves crowded above, appressed dry, erect-spreading wet; obovate to orbicular, 0.8-1.2 mm long; apex obtuse, cuspidate to piliferous; base not differentiated; margins plane, entire. Costa percurrent in lower leaves, excurrent as short, hyaline awn in upper leaves, to 0.5 mm long; in section subround, bulging dorsally, cells in 3-4 rows, not strongly differentiated. Laminal cells subquadrate to angular, smooth; basal cells quadrate to very short-rectangular. Gemmae rare, produced at apex of sterile plants, bulging lenticular with a pronounced hyaline, distal apiculus, to 0.2 mm in diameter, cells ± hexagonal. Monoicous. Perigonia terminal. Perichaetia terminal on erect branches; leaves slightly larger. Seta erect, 0.6-1.8 mm long, yellowish when wet, greyish when dry; capsule exserted, gymnostomous, short cylindrical, 1.0-1.3 mm long, bulging and reddish yellow when wet, irregularly striated to sulcate and greyish when dry, mouth narrow; exothecial cells lax, subhexagonal, 3-4 rows at mouth transversely rectangular; stomata present at base of urn, weakly cryptopore; peristome absent; operculum plano-convex with minute apiculus, remaining attached to columella when capsule first opens; calyptra not seen; spores rounded, 50-55 µm, reddish brown, granulate.
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