In Central America H. involuta is especially common on rocks and boulders in or along streams or creeks. All Central American collections of the species that grew on bark were found to be misidentified, mostly as Calymperaceae species. Although throughout its range H. involuta is extremely variable in size, in Central America it is usually a medium-sized plant. Dry plants of H. involuta usually have distinctly erect-incurved leaves with strongly involute margins, however plants from very moist or wet places often had spreading leaves. The leaves of H. involuta are spathulate, have two well-formed stereid bands in the costa, and leaf cells that are bulging-mammillose on the ventral surface but plane on the dorsal. Other diagnostic features of the species include its eperistomate, cylindric capsules, twisted-cucullate calyptrae, and the common presence of stellate to dentate-ellipsoidal propagula on branched, axillary stalks. The upper leaf margins in H. involuta vary from dentate to smooth and at times both margin types can be found on leaves from a single collection.

Plaubelia sprengelii can be confused with H. involuta since both species have similar leaf shapes and bulging-mammillose cells on the ventral surface. Most plants of  P. sprengelii differ from H. involuta in their smaller size and strongly rosulate habit. Unfortunately, the two species sometimes overlap in plant size and P. sprengelii at times has a non-rosulate habit. Plaubelia sprengelii also differs from H. involuta in having greatly enlarged and bulging epidermal cells on the ventral surface of the costa, a reduced peristome, and usually a single (dorsal) stereid band in the costa. The enlarged, bulging epidermal cells on the ventral costal surface of P. sprengelii are a distinctive feature of the species that can be seen in whole leaf mounts.

Hyophiladelphus agarius might be confused with H. involuta since it has a similar plant-aspect when dry, and oblong to spathulate leaves with smooth, ventrally bulging leaf cells. It differs from H. involuta in having acute leaves, usually stoutly excurrent costae, and a well-developed peristome.