Plants very small, 5–7 mm high, yellowish green, gregarious or scattered. Stems erect, usually simple. Leaves 2–3 mm long, erect or somewhat contorted when dry, erect-spreading when moist, oblong, clasping at base, abruptly narrowed from the shoulder to a long-awned, blunt apex; margins plane, entire; costa strong, filling the entire acumen, smooth on the back; leaf cells at the shoulder irregularly short-rectangular to rhombic, 13–26 µm × 5–8 µm, rather thick-walled; basal cells narrowly long-rectangular, 40–90 µm × 8–13 µm, rather thin-walled, lax, with several narrower cells (4–5 µm wide) near the margins. Autoicous. Perichaetial leaves similar to the upper stem leaves. Setae straight, 16–20 mm long, yellowish; capsules inclined, urns short-cylindric, 1.2–2.0 mm long, neck 1.3–2.0 mm long, strumose at base; opercula long-rostrate; annuli well developed, deciduous, revoluble; stomata superficial; peristome teeth reddish, linear-lanceolate, vertically striate nearly to the tips, finely papillose at the tips. Spores 26–30 µm in diameter, yellowish, strongly papillose.

Syntypes. Sweden and Austria.

Chinese specimens examined: HEILONGJIANG: Dailing Pref., P.-C. Chen & C. Gao 676 (IFSBH). SICHUAN: Ping-wu Co., Q. Li 10275 (IFSBH). YUNNAN: Kunming City, Z.-R. Zhang 74 (KUN); Meng-la Co., Redfearn et al. 33758, 34122 (MO).

Habitat: on wet soil and disturbed places by streams; Distribution: China, Nepal, India, Myanmar, Japan, Russian Far East, Europe, North and Central America.

Illustrations: T. Cao & C. Gao 1988 (Fig. 6).