Plants forming turfs, occasionally rosulate, green above, brownish below. Stems seldom branching, 0.3–1.0 cm in length, transverse section rounded, central strand weak to strong, sclerodermis present, hyalodermis absent; axillary hairs small, of 3–4 cells, basal cell firm-walled; rhizoids usually few. Leaves appressed and somewhat contorted when dry, spreading when moist, ligulate to spathulate, 1.5–2.5 µm in length, upper lamina occasionally grooved along costa, plane or broadly channeled across leaf, margins plane above, weakly recurved below, sharply crenulate to irregularly dentate above with sharp mid-marginal wall projections usually ending in a weak simple papilla, marginal cells often smaller than the medial; apex rounded to broadly acute, often sharply apiculate by a distinctive thick-walled cell or cells; base rectangular or not differentiated in shape; costa weak, ending several (6–9) cells before the apex or percurrent, costa with lamina inserted ventrally to laterally, ventral and dorsal superficial cells short-rectangular, narrower than laminal cells, 2 rows of cells across costa ventrally at midleaf, costal transverse section rounded to elliptical, stereid band very weak or occasionally absent, rounded in shape, ventral and dorsal epidermis present, guide cells 2 in 1 layer, hydroid strand present, small to large; upper laminal cells large, bulging-hexagonal, 15–18 µm in width, 1:1, walls thin, weakly trigonous, superficially convex on both sides; papillae absent (upper marginal teeth may be interpreted as ending in sharp, simple papillae); basal cells differentiated across the leaf base (except for one row of marginal cells similar to the upper cells), rectangular, ca. 20–25 µm in width, 2–4:1, walls thin, weakly trigonous. Propagula when present borne on rhizoids in soil, irregularly rounded to clavate, ca. 100–130 µm in longest dimension. Dioicous. Perichaetia terminal,  inner leaves little different from the cauline, slightlylarger.Seta ca. 0.1–1.2 cm in length, 1 per perichaetium, reddish brown, twisted clockwise; when present theca 0.7–2.0 µm in length, brown, nearly spherical (then with a narrow beak to 0.25 µm in length) or short-ovate or cylindrical, exothecial cells rectangular, 20–45 µm in width, 1–4:1, thin-walled, stomates at base of theca, phaneropore, cleistocarpous or stegocarpous, annulus when present of 2–3 layers of strongly vesiculose cells, persistent; when present peristome teeth 32, filamentous, somewhat anastomosing, densely branching-spiculose, ca. 400 µm in length, with ca. 5 articulations, nearly straight or weakly twisted counterclockwise, basal membrane 25–35 µm in height, low spiculose. Operculum when differentiated short- to long-conic, 500–650 µm in length, cells twisted weakly counterclockwise. Calyptra cucullate or mitriform and then three-lobed, smooth, 1.5–2.0 µm in length. Spores 10–20 µm in diameter, light brown, nearly smooth to finely papillose. Laminal KOH color reaction red. [Information on the cleistocarpous sporophyte of C. leptophylla from Arts and Sollman 1991]