Plants small to large, in loose or dense masses. Primary stems creeping. Secondary stems prostrate, pendent, or trailing, freely and irregularly branched; central strand absent; rhizoids on stems and at base of secondary stems, from initials abaxial to leaf insertions and around secondary stem primordia; axillary hairs elongate. Leaves 3-ranked, keeled, conduplicate, concave, or plane; base decurrent; margins entire or serrulate; costa subpercurrent to long-excurrent or nearly ecostate; alar cells enlarged and bulging or walls firm; medial laminal cells linear to linear-rhomboidal. Sexual condition dioicous; perigonia gemmate; perichaetia lateral on short branches. Seta short or elongate. Capsule immersed, laterally emergent, emergent, or exserted, oval, oval-oblong, subcylindric, or cylindric; stomata absent; annulus rudimentary or rarely massive; operculum obtuse-conic, acute, or obliquely rostrate; peristome diplolepidous; exostome teeth 16, linear, sometimes united in pairs at apices, external surface smooth, occasionally papillose or spiculose-papillose, lightly thickened, internal surface heavily thickened, granulose, sometimes obscurely striate, inner trabeculae heavily thickened; endostome segments linear, red to brownish orange, papillose, united by lateral bars only distally (trellis imperfect) or throughout (trellis perfect). Calyptra mitrate or cucullate, smooth, naked, sometimes clasping base of seta when young. Spores small or large, smooth to lightly papillose.
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