Plaubelia sprengelii (Schwaegr.) Zand., Bull. Buffalo Soc. Nat. Sci. 32: 176. 1993.
Barbula sprengelii Schwaegr., Sp. Musc. Frond., Suppl. 2(1): 64. 1823. Tortula sprengelii (Schwaegr.) Hook. & Grev., Edinburgh J. Sci. 1: 301. 1824. Weissia sprengelii (Schwaegr.) Arnott, Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 5: 250. 1827. Trichostomum sprengelii (Schwaegr.) Lindb., Öfvers. Förh. Kongl. Svenska Vetensk-Akad. 21: 229. 1864. Desmatodon sprengelii (Schwaegr.) Williams, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 46: 217. 1919. Hyophilopsis sprengelii (Schwaegr.) Crum, Bryologist 68: 69. 1965. Neohyophila sprengelii (Schwaegr.) Crum, Bryologist 68: 470. 1965 [1966]. Protologue: In Hispaniola lectam misit cl. Sprengel
Desmatodon spathulifolius Bartr., Bryologist 50: 205. 1947. Hyophilopsis spathulifolius (Bartr.) Crum, Bryologist 68: 70. 1965. Neohyophila spathulifolia (Bartr.) Crum, Bryologist 68: 470. 1965 [1966]. Protologue: Guatemala. Dept. Huehuetenango: moist calcareous rocks at edge of spring, Rio San Juan near Aguacatan, alt. 5299 ft, A. J. Sharp 5247. Paratype: Sharp 5245 (F, MO).
Plants 1–6 mm high. Stems erect, strongly rosulate or with evenly spaced and sized leaves throughout, irregularly branched, sclerodermis and central strand present, rhizoids sparse, red, smooth. Leaves 1.5–2.5 mm long, erect at base, tubulose, incurved when dry, wide-spreading when wet, spathulate to oblong, concave; apices rounded to obtuse; margins unistratose, plane or incurved, entire to weakly denticulate, not bordered; costa covered on upper ventral surface by bulging, quadrate to oblong cells, subpercurrent, percurrent or excurrent, guide cells well-developed, ventral stereid band absent or present, at times present as 2-4 small, parenchymatous cells, dorsal stereid band well-developed, epidermal layer enlarged; upper cells 6–14 x 6–8 μm, mammillose-bulging on upper surface, plane to weakly convex, smooth or variously pluripapillose on dorsal surface, rounded-hexagonal, basal cells differentiated only juxtacostally at extreme base, 18–24 x 6–8 μm, short-rectangular to rectangular, with thin- or thick-walled. Dioicous. Perichaetial terminal. Setae 3–5 mm long, yellow becoming red with age. Capsules 1–2 mm long, cylindric to ellipsoidal; stomata in neck; opercula 0.8–1.0 mm long, conic-rostrate; annuli of 2–3 rows of vesiculose cells; peristome of 16 red, spiculose, long-linear teeth, cleft to the base, 120–180 μm long, erect, not twisted, basal membrane absent. Spores 8–10 μm, lightly roughened. Calyptrae smooth, 2 mm long.