Plants 2–5 mm, pale brownish yellow. Leaves variously contorted when dry, ovate to obovate or oblong-spathulate, imbricate, somewhat concave, mostly 2–3 mm long; margins crenulate-serrulate by inflated narrow thin-walled cells that often form a orangish border; apices narrowed to an acute tip terminating abruptly in a sharp, 1–2-celled apiculus; costa ending 3–5 cells before the tip; basal laminal cells rectangular (75–105 × 20–32 µm), distal cells irregularly hexagonal to oblong rectangular. Seta reddish, 6–10 mm, straight, not hygroscopic. Capsule elongate-pyriform from an apophysis about half the total length, 2–3 mm, somewhat sulcate when dry and empty; exothecial cells, scarcely thickened, narrowly oblong and transversely elongate in 5–7 rows proximal to the mouth; operculum planoconvex, peristome well developed, exostome teeth reddish brown, lanceolate with 4–7 thin trabeculae, slender, fragile tips, striate basally and papillose at the tips, endostome not seen. Calyptra cucullate, long-beaked, inflated around the capsule, large, smooth. Spores 27–35 µm, smooth, often faintly angled.

Habitat: Disturbed, seasonally wet, sandy soils along stream beds or roadside ditches
Elevation: moderate to high elevations

Distribution

• Generated Map
• Legacy Map

Ariz., Calif., N.Mex., Tex., Europe.

Discussion

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.