Brymela is a Neotropical genus restricted to Central America, the Caribbean, and northwestern South America. The genus was originally described for a single, especially robust, epiphytic moss from western Panama. Buck (1987) considerably expanded its generic concept when he transferred nine species of Hookeriopsis into Brymela. One of these transfers (H. callicostelloides) is better placed in Callicostella. The present treatment adds four more species to Brymela, bringing the total number of species in the genus to thirteen. Plants of Brymela are often reddish in color. Its stems have a sclerodermis and no pseudoparaphyllia. The leaves of Brymela are nearly always undulate to rugose when dry and have serrate to serrulate or subentire, non-bordered margins. The leaf costae are thin or thick, usually diverge throughout, are smooth on dorsal surface, and only sometimes weakly pro-ject at the tips. The leaves of Brymela have a homogenous areolation, with usually elongate, firm- or thick-walled and porose cells. The capsules of Brymela are distinctive in having a massive, persistent annulus consisting of 4–6 rows of yellowish, hexagonal cells. As in other members of the Hookeri-aceae, the rudimentary stomata are composed of 2–6 cells.

Brymela can be confused with the other Hookeriopsis segregates: Hookeriopsis, Thamniopsis, and Trachyxiphium. Hookeriopsis and Brymela are similar in lacking a stem hyalodermis and in hav-ing similarly shaped, elimbate leaves. In both genera the cells are elongate, firm- to thick-walled, and homogeneous throughout. Hookeriopsis differs from Brymela only in having weak costae that barely extend above midleaf. Thamniopsis is an extremely troublesome genus, with species that often have strongly dimorphic leaves. It is similar to Brymela in size, and both genera often have undulate or ru-gose leaves. Thamniopsis differs from Brymela in having a well-developed stem hyalodermis. Fur-thermore, the leaf margins in Thamniopsis are strongly toothed (often by swollen, bifid teeth) and bor-dered by elongate cells. Lastly, the costae in Thamniopsis are often spined, or even crested, and the leaves have a heterogeneous areolation: upper cells usually short and firm-walled, basal cells elon-gate, enlarged, bulging, and thin-walled. Trachyxiphium and Brymela both lack a stem hyalodermis, and their leaves have a homogeneous areolation. Typically, the leaf cells in Trachyxiphium have thin-ner cell walls than those of Brymela, the leaf margins have swollen, often bifid teeth, and the costae are strong, spined, often crested, with paired, bifid teeth.

The name Brymela is an anagram based on the name of the collector of the type species, Barry Hammel.