Plants: to 4 cm, in mats, dark green to yellowish brown. Stems: irregularly pinnate, smooth; paraphyllia absent. Leaves: ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, to 1 mm; margins serrate, limbidium absent; apex gradually tapering to narrow point, hair-point absent; costa ending before apex, abaxial surface smooth; distal medial laminal cells linear-rhomboidal, 9–15 µm, 1-papillose. Seta: to 1 cm, rough. Capsule: horizontal, oblong-oval, 2–3 mm; operculum broadly conic, short-rostrate. Spores: 9–12 µm, smooth.

Exposed soil, soil over rock, logs, tree roots. low to moderate elevations. Alta., B.C., Ariz., Calif., Nev., Oreg., Wash., Mexico (Baja California [Guadalupe Island: Ensenada]), Europe (Portugal), Pacific Islands (Hawaii). Discussion.