Plants loosely to densely tufted, usually red-brown below. Stems mostly 10-20 mm high; central strand usually present. Leaves concave, channeled or keeled, oblong, ovate, or lanceolate, rounded-obtuse to acute, usually sheathing at base; margins plane to recurved, entire to dentate; costa ending a few cells below the apex to percurrent, covered ventrally by quadrate to short-rectangular cells, usually with both dorsal and ventral stereid bands; upper cells subquadrate to short-rectangular, with walls usually evenly thickened and papillae solid to hollow, flattened, bifid to compound, mostly 2-6 per lumen; basal cells usually rectangular, filling most of the base, smooth or weakly papillose, occasionally bulging. Dioicous, synoicous, or paroicous (occasionally polygamous). Inflorescences terminal. Perigonia gemmiform. Perichaetial leaves sheathing in the lower 1/3-3/4, larger than stem leaves, long-oval to long-lanceolate, with cells usually prosenchymatous below. Setae elongate, twisted clockwise below, often counterclockwise above; capsules ellipsoidal to cylindric, occasionally arcuate; annulus of 1-2 rows of usually vesiculose cells, often revoluble or deciduous in parts; operculum short-conic to short-rostrate; stomata at base of urn; peristome none, rudimentary, or consisting of 32 erect, linear, usually densely spiculose divisions, the basal membrane low or none. Calyptra cucullate, smooth. Ð The leaves are red (or occasionally orange) in 2% KOH solution.