Dioicous. Turfs on soil and on soil crusts over rock, yellowish to olive-green or dark green. Stems 3–7 cm tall, uniformly foliate, black or dark brown, with sparse pale or brown rhizoids. Leaves erecto-patent to patent or slightly curved outwards when moist, appressed to erecto-patent and often homomallously curved or curved back toward stem when dry, narrowly ovate-lanceolate, 4.4–7.2 mm long, 0.6–1.2 mm wide, strongly concave to subtubulose; apex ending in a concolorous or short hyaline point; costa occupying c. 30–50% of leaf width; margin entire, plane, with more elongate hyaline cells near base forming an inconspicuous border; laminal cells in apical half rhomboidal or oblong to short-linear, 20–70 μm long, 8–13 μm wide, mostly conspicuously pitted; basal laminal cells chlorophyllose above alar cells, similar to laminal cells in apical half, becoming hyaline near margin; alar cells elliptic, short rectangular or rounded quadrate, 17–63 μm long, 10–30 μm wide, orange, unistratose. Sporophytes almost always absent. Seta c. 5 mm long, black or dark brown, smooth, not twisted. Capsule erect to nodding, oblong, c. 1 mm long, straight, tan or yellowish brown. Operculum not seen. Peristome Campylopus-type.
Gold, CVU, EGL, EGU, HSF, HNF, OtR. New Zealand. Widespread throughout the state except for the far north-west in a variety of habitats including rocky river banks, open sites beneath dry sclerophyll forests and woodlands, swampy depressions and drainage lines, roadsides and among outcrops up to 1500 metres above sea-level.
