BRYACEAE

Plants erect, rarely erect from subterranean stolons, usually tufted, green, yellowish, reddish, or hyaline; stems simple or forked, central strand usually present, sometimes densely radiculose. Leaves elliptic to ovate or ovate-lanceolate, linear-lanceolate, lanceolate, to oblong-lanceolate, or setaceous, dimorphic and complanate or terete foliate, usually gradually increasing in size upward, often rosulate; apices usually acute, sometimes awned or piliferous; costae single, subpercurrent, percurrent, or excurrent, usually with well-developed guide cells and stereid cells; margins bordered or unbordered, toothed or entire; areolation firm or lax; upper leaf cells rhombic to linear or vermicular, basal cells rhombic, rectangular, or quadrate. Autoicous or dioicous. Setae terminal, elongate. Capsules erect, suberect, inclined, horizontal, or pendent, zygomorphic or actinomorphic, cylindric, sub-cylindric, clavate, pyriform, oval, or spherical, neck commonly differentiated; opercula convex to short-conic, rarely rostrate; annuli usually well-developed and revoluble; stomata phaneroporic, in neck; peristome diplolepidous, usually complete, exostome of 16 usually narrowly triangular teeth, endostome with basal membrane usually well-developed, segments usually broad and perforate, cilia usually well-developed, nodose or appendiculate, at times the exostome reduced or lacking or the endostome reduced or lacking. Spores round or nearly so. Calyptrae smooth, cucullate.