This is a relatively large, bushy-looking moss, conspicuously pale-green in colour. The reddish stems grow erect and have frequent short branches. The leaves are triangular, with a double-nerve. A widespread moss, as well as in dunes it also grows abundantly in certain types of broad-leaf woodland.

It is related to the moss commonly found in lawns - Rhtidiadelphus squarrosus - and Rhytidiadelphus loreus, a common woodland moss.