Turves or tufts on soil, walls and burnt logs. Stems to 4–30 mm long, simple or with basal branches, red-brown. Leaves oblong-ovate to broadly obovate, 2–4 mm long, c. 1.5 mm wide, concave adaxially, little altered to contorted when dry, crowded toward stem apices; costa subpercurrent to short-excurrent to form a mucro; margins entire or weakly serrulate toward apex, erect; apex acute, sometimes mucronate; laminal cells oblong-hexagonal in apical half, mostly 36–70 (–90) μm long, 30–36 μm wide, larger and rectangular near base. Seta 15–40 mm long, arcuate when moist, flexuose, twisted when dry and old, strongly hygroscopic, red or pale orange-brown. Capsule narrowly pyriform, strongly asymmetric, inclined, curved, 2–3.5 mm long. Operculum low conic, c. 0.7 mm diameter. Spores 12–20 μm diameter.
LoM, MuM, Wim, GleP, VVP, VRiv, MSB, RobP, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGL, EGU, WPro, HSF, HNF, OtR, MonT, HFE, VAlp. One of the most common species of moss in Victoria and widespread throughout all of the state in a variety of natural habitats and in disturbed areas. Widespread throughout the rest of Australia and cosmopolitan.
Funaria hygrometrica is a pioneering species that quickly colonises disturbed ground, often after fires. It often favours soil of high potassium concentration.
