Plants small, caespitose, dark green to yellowish green; saxicolous or terricolous. Stems to 6 mm tall; in section round, central strand present, cortical cells thickened, outer row smaller, incrassate, reddish. Leaves glossy, incurled with involute margins dry, widespreading with plane margins wet; broadly elliptical to Ungulate or spathulate, 1.0-1.5 mm long; apex rounded to obtuse, mucronate; margins plane, entire or rarely serrulate above. Costa very short-excurrent, ventral superficial cells quadrate to short-rectangular, mammillose, dorsal superficial cells linear, incrassate, smooth; in section round, guide cells 4, ventral stereid band 1-2 cells thick, ventral surface cells larger, incrassate, dorsal stereid band large, 4-6 cells thick, dorsal surface cells substereids. Upper laminal cells small, rounded-quadrate, mammillose ventrally, smooth dorsally; basal cells short-rectangular to quadrate, thin-walled. Gemmae axillary, stalked, stellate, multicellular. Sporophyte not known from Southern Africa. Described from Zimbabwe (Sim, 1926) as: ‘Seta to 12 mm long; capsule cylindrical, contracted at mouth; peristome absent’.
Home