Seta 3-6 mm, straight to some-what arcuate. Capsule when mature ovoid to narrowly ovoid, 3-5 mm, upper face with peri-meter ridge differentiating it from lower face, dull brown to greenish brown, not glossy. Spores 7-12 µm.

Capsules mature late summer-fall. Commonly on rotten decorticated logs, but also on humus banks, mainly subalpine but also occasionally to near sea level, mainly in coniferous forests; low to moderate elevations (10-1500 m); Alta., B.C., Alaska, Calif., Colo., Idaho, Mont., Oreg., Wash.

This endemic species may resemble Buxbaumia aphylla. The sporangium however, is never glossy chestnut when mature, but is dull and greenish brown; the exostome is in 2-3 rows rather than one row as in B. aphylla.