Archegoniate plants of 1-stratose, ovate to ovate-lanceolate leaves, leaves with ciliate or jagged margins. Seta erect, rough, red-brown when mature, 3-15 mm, bulging where it joins the oblique capsule.
Buxbaumia plants are unlikely to be seen unless sporophytes are present. No other genus in North America is likely to be confused with it, as the characteristic obliquely oriented sporangium on erect rough seta makes it distinctive. Sporophytes appear in fall, capsules mature in spring.
