Plants: in low, tangled mats. Stems: sometimes leafless at apices, flagelliform. Leaves: with costa strong. Sexual: condition autoicous or synoicous, usually pseudautoicous with dwarf male plants; perigonia axillary; perichaetial leaves small, apex long-awned. Capsule: sulcate when dry; stomata present proximally; operculum rostrate; exostome teeth with zigzag median line; endostome segments delicate, cilia delicate, nodose. Calyptra: usually with delicate hairs proximally, sometimes naked with age. Fla., Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia.