Seta 3--5 mm, straight to somewhat arcuate. Capsule when mature narrowly ovoid to nearly cylindric, 3--5 mm, dull brown to rusty-brown, the upper face not strongly differentiated from the lower, slightly oblique to the seta or nearly erect. Spores 12--13 mm.

Capsules mature late summer--autumn. Soft decaying decorticated logs in deciduous to mixed forest; 20--150 m; very rare: N.S., Nfld., Ont., Mass., Mich., N.C., N.Y., Va., Vt.; e Asia (including far eastern Russia).

Buxbaumia piperi has occasionally been confused with this species, but the sporangium shape (narrowly ovate to cylindric), and the the shorter, often arcuate seta separate B. minakatae; B. piperi has a longer, straight seta and ovate sporangium. Buxbaumia indusiata of A. J. Grout's Moss Flora of North America not Bridel is based on misidentifications of eastern North American material.