Plants: up to 2.5 mm, scattered in sparse protonemata. Leaves: lanceolate, broadly linear or ligulate, acuminate, sometimes narrowed distally from shoulders, 0.8–2.5 × 0.15–0.4 mm; margins serrulate or serrate, with teeth sometimes recurved up to 45°; apex acuminate and papillose; costa at the base thin or not always apparent, stronger distally, often filling the acumen, percurrent or excurrent, papillose; areolation firm proximally and distally compact to dense; median laminal cells in ± vertical rows, smooth or slightly papillose; distal laminal cells papillose. Capsule: with columella resorbed before meiosis; stomates in proximal half or scattered throughout. Spores: various, 43–120 × 35–80 µm. North America, Europe, e Asia, Pacific Islands (New Zealand).

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Plants: less than 2.5 mm. Leaves: broadly linear to lanceolate, 0.8–2.5 × 0.15–0.4 mm; margins serrulate to strongly serrate distal to the proximal third; apex slenderly acuminate, papillose; costa not always apparent at the base, often filling the acumen, percurrent; areolation compact distally; median laminal cells smooth or slightly papillose; distal laminal cells somewhat papillose. Capsule: with very few stomates, mostly near the base. Spores: spherical or reniform, 43–107 × 35–75 µm, orange-brown. Phenology: Capsules mature year around.

Moist or drying disturbed soil. low to moderate elevations (0-1000 m). Ont., Que., Sask., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Md., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., Tenn., Tex., Va., W.Va., Wis., Europe (Germany), e Asia (Japan), Pacific Islands (New Zealand). Discussion.