Plants delicate, yellow-green to light green. Leaves linear to linear-lanceolate, long-subulate, acute; costa ending in apex, filling subula; margins entire to slightly crenulate; leaf cells 1:2(--3); perichaetial leaves subulate from wider base. Seta 0.8--1 mm, straight. Capsule hemispheric to ovate, turbinate when old; peristome of 16, red, smooth teeth; columella short and immersed. Spores 10--13 µm.

Moist protected limestone cliffs; B.C.

Known only from the type locality in the Queen Charlotte Islands, S. careyana is characterized by its emergent, ovate capsules, which tend to become turbinate with a flaring mouth when old and dry. The leaves are linear, with an extremely long, slender subula formed almost entirely of the costa. The leaves, except for the interior perichaetial leaves, rarely flare outward to any extent at the base.