Plants medium-sized, golden brown or golden yellow. Stems erect or creeping, ± irregularly branched; paraphyllia absent. Stem leaves erect or spreading, , 1.8-2.4 × 0.6-0.9 mm; base subsheathing, cordate-ovate or broadly so; acumen not differentiated. Sexual condition autoicous.

Intermediately mineral-rich and slightly nutrient-enriched, often spring-influenced fens; low to high elevations; Greenland; Alaska; n Europe.

Campylium laxifolium differs from C. protensum and C. stellatum in being autoicous and having erect or at least less distinctly spreading leaves that are more ovate and gradually narrowed toward the apex. The species is slightly smaller than C. longicuspis and has more weakly concave, more broadly ovate leaves without differentiated acumina. Campylium laxifolium is known from only three localities in North America, but because it was recently described it can be assumed to be more widespread.