Plants: glossy, glaucous-green to white, often with pink tinge; densely cespitose; axillary hairs 3 per axil, 5-celled. Leaves: spreading-recurved, fleshy, fragile when dry, 4–5 mm, apiculate, older leaves sometimes with rhizoids on tips. : Specialized asexual reproduction rare, by gemmae. Seta: yellow, 2–5 mm. Capsule: brownish, 1–1.5 mm, ovoid-cylindric, slightly asymmetric, with stomata at base; operculum 0.8 mm; peristome of 8 blunt triangular pairs of teeth, teeth smooth or faintly striate, 200 µm tall, each composed of one interior and one exterior layer of intact, empty, cell-like plates; prostome present. Calyptra: 1.5–1.9 mm. Spores: finely papillose, 17–24 µm. Phenology: Capsules mature throughout the year but most common Sep–Apr.
Hammocks and open forests, primarily on stems and bases of Quercus virginiana and Sabal palmetto, and rotted logs, occasionally terrestrial on soil and humus. low elevations (0-30 m). Fla., La., Tex., pantropical.
Octoblepharum albidum is a weedy and conspicuous moss that is distributed worldwide in the tropics. It grows especially on palms, often forming deep soft cushions. The flat, glossy, ligulate, spreading-recurved leaves distinguish it easily in the field from the superficially similar Leucobryum, which has erect or spreading, pointed, subtubulose leaves.