Leaves with distal lamina smooth; awn smooth or rarely with a few teeth; lamellae 8--16 cells in height, not lobed, seldom bearing filaments. Capsule stegocarpous, emergent to exerted, ovoid, annulus present, operculum cells in straight rows; eperistomate. Calyptra cucullate or rarely mitrate.

Spores mature spring. soil (volcanic, dry saline), frost boil, low desert scrub areas; 900--1520 m; Alta., B.C., Nun., Ont., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Kans., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.Mex., N.Dak., Oreg., S.Dak., Tex., Utah, Wash., Wyo.; s South America, Europe, Asia, n Africa, Australia.

R. T. Wareham (1939) found the characters of var. incanum , long awns and short setae, inconstant in both American and European material. This is the most common species, and serves to stabilize arid soils (S. Flowers 1973). The setae may reach 3 mm. Faint thickenings reminiscent of a rudimentary peristome can sometimes be found associated with spore sac remnants dug out of the operculum.