Tortula brevirostris Hook. & Grev., Edinburgh J. Sci. 38: 289. 12. 1824.

Plants tiny, 1.0–2.0 mm high, brownish, in scattered tufts. Stems simple, very short. Leaves appressed, rosette when dry, spreading when moist, usually 1.0 mm long, rarely up to 1.5 mm long, suborbicular to shortly broad-lingulate, concave, rounded at apex; margins entire; costa thick and broad, ending at or below apex; costa very broad, ending at or below apex, green filaments branched, 4–7 cells high, filament cells thin-walled, cylindric to spherical; upper leaf cells mostly transversely short-rectangular to rounded quadrate, ca. 10–15 µm wide, moderately thick-walled; basal cells rectangular to quadrate, thin-walled. Synoicous or dioicous. Perichaetial leaves not clearly differentiated. Setae reddish brown, twisted when dry, 5–10 mm long; capsules suberect to slightly arched, dark brown, cylindrical, 1.5–2.0 mm long; annuli well developed, revoluble, in 1–3 rows of large cells; peristome teeth filiform, reddish brown, strongly twisted counterclockwise; basal membrane low; opercula conical to subulate, shortly rostrate. Spores yellowish green, 13–15 µm in diameter, nearly smooth.

Type. Europe.

Chinese specimens examined: QINGHAI: Cheng-duo (Cuo-duo) Co., B.-C. Tan 95-1701 (FH, MO); Nang-qian Co., B.-C. Tan 95-1700a (FH, MO). XINJIANG: He-jiang Co., J.-C. Zhao 953403a (HBNU, MO).

Habitat: on calcareous soil; Distribution: China, Russia, Europe, and North America.

Illustrations: Crum & Anderson 1981 (fig. 164, A–F).