Glyphothecium

Dioicous. Asexual reproduction by clavate gemmae in upper leaf axils. Tufts on trees. Primary stem inconspicuous; secondary stem divergent from trunk or pendulous, simple or sparingly branched, with upturned apices and branches, red, with rhizoids restricted to base; paraphyllia numerous, lanceolate or filamentous. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, sometimes falcate, arranged around stem and facing all directions, erect- or wide-spreading when moist, scarcely altered when dry, plicate, becoming noticeably smaller toward stem apices (not in Victoria) or not; apex acute or acuminate, sometimes twisted; costa short and double or absent; margin serrulate or serrate near apex, plane or reflexed on one or both sides near base; laminal cells linear, elliptic or rhomboid, smooth; alar cells well-differentiated, rounded quadrate to oblate, orange becoming red to red-brown at insertion, forming a rectangular patch along leaf margin. Capsule erect, symmetric, ovoid to cylindric, exserted, longitudinally 8-ribbed, without an annulus. Calyptra cucullate. Operculum oblique-rostrate, 1/2–3/4 capsule length. Peristome double; endostome reduced to basal membrane, c. 1/3 of exostome height; cilia absent.