Brachythecium albicans

Dioicous. Dense turves on soil. Stems ascendant, less often creeping, irregularly branched, mostly to 45 mm long but up to at least 90 mm long, light brown, with fascicles of yellow-brown rhizoids on ventral side of leaf bases, central strand present, branches 5–20 (–35) mm long. Stem and branch leaves slightly differentiated; cells linear, 40–109 (–130) μm long, 5–15 μm wide, smooth; alar cells oblate, quadrate or rectangular, 15–30 μm long, 11–15 μm wide, not inflated, in elongate-oblong or elongate-ovate group extending along margins 10–15% of leaf length. Stem leaves erect, imbricate, ovate-lanceolate, (1.3–) 2–2.6 (–2.8) mm long, (0.4–) 0.6–1.1 mm wide, concave, plicate when moist and dry; costa extending 1/2–2/3 leaf length; apex acuminate, without a hair-point; margins entire or weakly denticulate near apices, weakly reflexed near base or plane throughout, without a border. Branch leaves lanceolate, ovate or rounded-triangular, c. (0.9–) 1.3–1.8 mm long, weakly plicate; apex acuminate, acute or obtuse; margins finely denticulate, one or both side recurved or partly recurved in basal 65–75%. Setae 8–20 mm long, red-brown, smooth. Capsules inclined, oblong-ovoid, curved, 1.5–2 mm long.