The slender, dull plants of Pohlia flexuosa, which have leaves somewhat contorted when dry, are like those of P. annotina and P. camptotrachela. The gemmae are dimorphic, and either hyaline to whitish and narrowly linear-vermicular, with one or two poorly differentiated leaf primordia, or small, blackish, and oblong to globose, with angular cells. This species is known from only one North American site in Yuba County but is common in parts of Asia including China, and it occurs in western Europe.