Stems 20--25 mm, central strand absent. Leaves oblong to narrowly spathulate, 3--6 mm, apices obtuse or broadly acute, hair-pointed, awn short; margins plane; costa excurrent, awns shorter than leaf lamina; laminal cells 15--20 µm; basal cells rectangular, 20--90 µm, smooth; basal marginal cells differentiated, longer than laminal cells, in 8--12 rows. Specialized asexual reproduction absent. Seta 5--16 mm. Capsule exserted, long-cylindric, 1.5--3.5 mm, smooth; exothecial cells rectangular, walls thickened; peristome diplolepideous, not well-developed, teeth irregular, narrowly lanceolate, 0.5 mm, papillose or rarely smooth, erect when wet or dry; endostome segments attached to exostome teeth, papillose, as long as teeth; operculum 2 mm. Calyptrae 4--8 mm, lacerate at base, papillose distally. Spores 30--40 µm, warty, brown.

Soil in open montane and alpine habitats; Greenland, Alta., B.C., Man., N.W.T., Nunavut, Ont., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Oreg., Wash.; n Europe; c and n Asia.

The long awn on narrowly spathulate leaves and whitish peristome distinguish Encalypta brevicollis. There is some similarity to E. affinis or E. ciliata but neither of these species display an awn as long and prominent as has E. brevicollis, or have the whitish peristome. A subspecies, E. brevicollis subsp. crumiana D. G. Horton, has previously been recognized primarily based on poorly developed, smooth peristome teeth, granulate ornamentation on top of ridged or warty spores, and a more gradual change from the calyptra body to the rostrum.