Plants small to large, in dense or loose tufts, light to deep green, sometimes yellowish, brownish, or rarely brownish red with age. Stems creeping, ascending, or arching, , loosely to densely terete-or rarely complanate-foliate, julaceous or not, irregularly to sometimes fairly regularly pinnate, branches somewhat more densely foliate than stem, terete-to complanate-foliate; central strand present; pseudoparaphyllia acute; axillary hairs of 2-3(-5) cells. Stem leaves erect to patent and reflexed, loosely arranged to closely imbricate, broadly ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or deltoid, slightly to strongly concave, indistinctly plicate to not plicate; base broadly or narrowly short-or long-decurrent; margins coarsely serrate to subentire; apex gradually or abruptly tapered, acuminate, acute, or apiculate; costa reaching mid leaf to percurrent, strong, weak, or broad proximally and narrowed distally, terminal abaxial spine small or absent; alar cells subquadrate to short-rectangular, enlarged or not, ; laminal cells slightly elongate (3-4:1) to linear (10-20:1), S. starkei)>, walls thin to moderately thick; basal juxtacostal cells undifferentiated, or broader and region pellucid, or slightly broader, walls moderately thick, and region opaque across base. Branch leaves smaller, narrower; costal terminal spine more often present; . Sexual condition autoicous (dioicous in S. hylotapetum and S. latifolium); perichaetial leaves reflexed. Seta red-brown or sometimes cherry red, rough or sometimes weakly so to almost smooth. Capsule inclined, horizontal, or pendent, dark red-brown, elongate to short-ovate, straight or curved; annulus separating by fragments; operculum conic to long-conic, occasionally short-rostrate; peristome xerocastique, perfect. Calyptra naked. Spores 9-20 µm.
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