Plants: small to large, in loose to dense mats, green to yellowish (golden) or brownish. Stems: creeping, densely foliate, often julaceous, irregularly and usually sympodially branched, branches similar to stems; central strand present; pseudoparaphyllia triangular, acute; axillary hairs of 2–4 cells, cells long, 3–6:1. Stem: leaves appressed (erect when moist in S. californicum and S. julaceum), usually closely imbricate, broadly ovate to ovate-lanceolate, strongly concave, not plicate; base inconspicuously decurrent; margins serrulate to subentire; apex gradually or abruptly tapered, obtuse, acute, short–acuminate, apiculate, or rarely long-acuminate; costa to 60–80% leaf length, moderate to somewhat stout, terminal abaxial spine usually present, indistinct (absent in S. obtusifolium); alar cells isodiametric, small to enlarged, walls thin to thick, region triangular, small or reaching 100% distance to costa; laminal cells flexuose-linear, walls thick; basal cells short to elongate. Branch: leaves similar. Sexual: condition dioicous; perichaetial leaf acumen long, reflexed. Seta: red-brown, rough throughout or distally, or smooth. Capsule: inclined to horizontal (suberect to inclined in S. cespitans), red-brown, short-cylindric, usually curved; annulus separating or not; operculum conic; peristome xerocastique, perfect. Calyptra: naked. Spores: 10–19 µm. w North America, nw Mexico, w Eurasia, n Africa, Atlantic Islands.
Species 6–10 (6 in the flora). The taxonomic status of East Asian and Australian species within Scleropodium needs confirmation. In the flora area, plants of Scleropodium are glossy; the endostome cilia are appendiculate (or rarely nodose in S. cespitans). The thick-walled basal laminal cells sometimes make the leaf difficult to detach.