Dioicous. Asexual reproduction by filiform gemmae in upper leaf axils. Tufts on small branches and twigs. Stems 5–70 mm long, mostly simple, red-brown, arising from a dense cluster of red-brown rhizoids. Leaves erecto-patent when moist or dry, ovate-lanceolate to cultriform, complanate, asymmetric, 1.5–2.5 mm long, 0.4–0.65 mm wide, plane; apices long-acuminate, straight; costa absent; margins serrulate near apices, otherwise entire, narrowly recurved on one side; laminal cells linear, 70–130 μm long, 5–10 μm wide, smooth; alar cells quadrate to short-rectangular, 25–40 μm long, 10–15 μm wide, pale yellow, forming a small, often indistinct patch. Setae 9–12 mm long, reddish or yellow, smooth, not clearly twisted. Capsules erect or inclined, oblong or cylindric, strongly 8-ribbed, 1.5–2.5 mm long, straight or slightly curved, brown. Opercula oblique-rostrate from conic base, 1–1.2 mm long.
EGL, EGU, HSF. New Zealand, Malesia and Taiwan. Also QLD and NSW. In warm-temperate rainforest near Mallacoota in far-east Gippsland.
