Plants medium-sized or rarely large, in soft, thin to dense, flat mats, green, yellow-green, golden brown, or reddish. Stems terete- or complanate-foliate, freely to sparsely branched; hyalodermis absent, central strand present or absent; paraphyllia absent; pseudoparaphyllia foliose. Stem and branch leaves similar, crowded, lanceolate to broadly ovate, concave; margins plane or rarely recurved, ± entire proximally, usually serrulate distally; apex obtuse, acute, or acuminate; costa double to mid leaf or usually shorter, or ecostate; alar cells many, region reaching costa or not, if leaves decurrent, alar region not differentiated; laminal cells linear, smooth, walls thin to firm, rarely thick; apical cells often shorter. Specialized asexual reproduction absent. Sexual condition autoicous or rarely dioicous; perichaetia large, leaves mostly sheathing, alar cells not differentiated. Seta reddish or yellow, elongate, smooth. Capsule erect, cylindric or long-cylindric, symmetric; columella long, narrowly cylindric; exothecial cells quadrate to short-rectangular, walls thin to thick, not collenchymatous; annulus differentiated or not; operculum long-conic to conic-rostrate, straight to oblique; peristome double, inserted below mouth; exostome teeth narrowly triangular, not shouldered, narrowly bordered, external surface with ± straight median line and relatively broad plates, cross, obliquely, or vertically striolate, or papillose, rarely smooth, sometimes with papillose prostomial plates, internal surface not or slightly trabeculate, often perforate, papillose, striate, or smooth; endostome basal membrane low or absent, segments narrow, keeled, narrowly perforate [discontinuous, adherent to exostome teeth], smooth, papillose, or striate, cilia absent. Calyptra cucullate, smooth, naked or sometimes sparsely hairy. Spores spheric, finely papillose (smooth to finely papillose in Entodon beyrichii).
Distribution
North America, Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, Atlantic Islands, Pacific Islands, Australia.
Discussion
Genera 5, species ca. 80 (1 genus, 10 species in the flora).
Selected References
Lower Taxa
Illustrations
| Family ⠉ | Taxon | Illustrator ⠉ | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Entodontaceae | Entodon concinnus | Patricia M. Eckel |