Plants small, in dense cushions, sometimes turfs, or rarely gregarious, pale green-silver, pinkish, or yellow-silver. Stems 0.4-2 cm, sometimes julaceous, strongly branching by subfloral innovations; rhizoids many, micronemata and macronemata present on stems. Leaves imbricate when dry, erect to erect-spreading when moist, broadly ovate to spathulate, somewhat concave, 0.2-2 mm; base not decurrent; margins recurved or sometimes plane proximally, plane distally, serrulate to distinctly serrate near apex, 1-stratose, limbidium present or absent; apex broadly rounded to acute; costa long-excurrent, sometimes percurrent in proximal leaves, awn hyaline, denticulate to spinose, guide cells present; alar cells usually distinct in quadrate groups or sometimes transversely elongate in small groups; laminal areolation heterogeneous; proximal laminal cells usually quadrate to short-rectangular, 1-2:1; medial and distal cells hexagonal, rhomboidal, or almost vermicular, 3-6:1, walls thin to thick, not pitted. Specialized asexual reproduction absent. Sexual condition dioicous; perigonia and perichaetia terminal, leaves same size as vegetative leaves or usually larger, not forming rosette, inner leaves little differentiated. [Seta usually single, straight to somewhat twisted. Capsule erect, oblong or cylindric, 2-4 mm; hypophysis inconspicuous to well differentiated; operculum weakly convex, short-conic, not rostrate; peristome diplolepidous-alternate; exostome pale yellow or tan, sometimes reddish, teeth slender lanceolate; endostome separate or rarely adherent to exostome, basal membrane low, segments absent, cilia absent. Spores shed singly, not as tetrads, 17-25 µm, finely papillose, pale yellow-tan or brown].
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