Plants to 3 cm, . Stem leaves stiff, erect-appressed when dry, oblong-lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 1.8-3 mm; margins narrowly recurved-revolute to near apex, entire; apex broadly acute to obtuse; basal laminal cells elongate to long-rectangular, walls thick, sometimes nodose; distal cells 7-12 µm, 1-stratose, smooth. Specialized asexual reproduction absent. Sexual condition gonioautoicous. Seta 2-3 mm. Capsule fully exserted, cylindric, 1.5-2.2 mm, slightly to distinctly 8-plicate to mid capsule; stomata superficial; peristome single; prostome present, large; exostome teeth 16, erect to spreading-reflexed when old and dry, smooth; endostome segments absent. Calyptra short-conic, smooth, naked. Spores 13-18 µm.

Seasonally wet rock in small streams of dry montane forests; moderate to high elevations (1000-2000 m); Calif., Idaho, Oreg., Wash., Wyo.

Orthotrichum holzingeri is distinguished by the smooth laminal cells, smooth exostome, naked calyptra, and exserted, slightly ribbed capsules. The species is distinct and endemic to a relatively small region in western North America; it is most closely related to O. laevigatum.