Flora of North America species comparison

0.5–3 cm, erect, forked, with central strand, with rhizoids confined to base of stems and firmly affixed to substratum.

crisped and curled when dry, plane in many leaves, 2-stratose in distal 1/2, cells with longitudinal striolae in distal 1/2 of leaf; usually a few alar cells enlarged on margins, often colored.

lanceolate, flexuose, crisped or curled when dry, 1–3.5 mm;

costa single, subpercurrent, narrow;

margins plane to incurved or recurved, 1- or 2-stratose;

proximal cells elongate, 15–30 µm, smooth;

alar cells with a few enlarged cells on margins, often colored or undifferentiated;

distal cells subquadrate 7–10 µm wide, smooth or with longitudinal cuticular ridges.

solitary, yellowish, 3–15 mm, smooth.

autoicous;

pergonial leaves abruptly narrowed to a long or short subula;

perichaetial leaves variable, resembling vegetative leaves or broadly obtuse to acute or short-acuminate.

without differentiated annulus;

peristome vertically striolate basally, weakly papillose distally.

light to dark brown when mature, elliptic to short-cylindric, 0.5–2 mm, smooth to longitudinally wrinkled when dry;

annulus present, of 1–3 rows of cells, deciduous or absent;

operculum rostrate, beak straight or oblique;

peristome single, 16 teeth inserted below darkened cells of mouth, teeth entire to divided at apices, red-brown with hyaline tips.

cucullate, smooth, covering 1/3–1/2 of capsule, entire at base.

spherical, 15–20 µm, weakly papillose.

asexual reproduction absent.

asexual reproduction sometimes present, multicellular, on abaxial surface, elliptic to short-linear, of 4–10 cells, 1-seriate or with occasional 2-seriate portions, smooth.