Lethocolea

Terrestrial, dioicous or paroicous (not in Victoria). Asexual reproduction by discoid gemmae produced on adaxial stem near apex or on the base of leaf acroscopic margin (not in Victoria) or by tubers produced from marsupium. Stem rarely branching, with two ranks of lateral leaves and rarely with sporadic underleaves; branches if present emerging from main stem from ventral surface or rarely laterally (not in Victoria) and with a collar of tissue at base, sometimes leafless. Leaves elliptic, or ovate to oblong-ovate or ovate-triangular, unlobed, entire, alternate, spreading more or less parallel to substrate, imbricate, concave adaxially near base, rounded and decurved at apex, green or sometimes red in well illuminated sites, dull-textured. Underleaves, if rarely present, ovate-elliptic to lingulate, wider than stem. Leaf cells polygonal, becoming oblong near margins, becoming more elongate toward base, especially near acroscopic margin, papillose, rarely smooth (not in Victoria), thin-walled, with distinct or indistinct (not in Victoria) trigones, with 1–2 very large oil bodies; oil bodies brownish-grey, ellipsoid to oblong, granular. Rhizoids scattered along abaxial stem, hyaline or purplish-red (not in Victoria). Androecium on main stem, with 6–12 saccate bracts, each with one antheridium. Sporophyte surrounded by a pendent marsupium, without a perianth; marsupium short- (not in Victoria) or long-cylindric to 20 mm long, totally subterranean, covered in rhizoids toward substrate surface, glabrous toward apex. Capsule cylindric, bistratose, slightly rostrate.