Plants: tiny, olive green. Leaves: ovate-oblong to broadly ligulate, gradually narrowed, obtuse, costa ending before apex, margins entire; leaf cells (1–)2:1; perichaetial leaves sharply contracted to stout, short subula from clasping base, strongly differentiated. Seta: 2–2.5 mm, twisted, curved when moist, ± straight when dry, slender. Capsule: ovate-oblong to oblong, longer than broad, not widest at mouth; peristome of 16 well-developed teeth; columella immersed. Spores: 9–11 µm.
Seligeria diversifolia occurs on stones in arctic Alaska, then south along the western mountains into the Yukon, and is found on cliff faces from a few stations in eastern North America. It is slender and stiff with differentiated perichaetial leaves, and a straight to slightly curved seta when moist, while the similar S. campylopoda has curved-twisted leaves, no differentiated perichaetial leaves, and a markedly curved seta when moist.