Plants orange-green or red-brown, occasionally blackish. Stems to 3 cm, central strand weak or absent. Stem leaves appressed-incurved when dry, usually strongly recurved and keeled when moist, monomorphic, triangular to lanceolate, adaxially grooved along costa, 1.2–2.5 mm, base ovate, margins strongly and broadly recurved in proximal 1/2 or up to near apex, entire, apex narrowly to broadly acute, not fragile, commonly ending in a conical cell; costa percurrent or ending 1–4 cells before the apex, tapering, widened pad of cells absent, adaxial costal cells quadrate to short-rectangular, 4–6 cells wide at mid leaf, guide cells in 1 layer; basal laminal cells differentiated medially or across leaf, rectangular, walls usually thickened; distal laminal cells 13–15 µm wide, 1:1, papillae usually absent, rarely simple, weak and domelike, 1 per lumen, lumens rounded or angular, walls thickened, often irregular or very weakly trigonous, weakly to strongly convex on both sides, 1-stratose. Specialized asexual reproduction specialized structures absent. Seta 0.4–0.6 cm. Capsule ca. 1 mm; peristome teeth 16, short-lanceolate to linear, irregularly cleft or perforate to near base, straight, to 50–300 µm. Spores 13–15 µm. Distal laminal KOH reaction red.
