Leskea varia Hedwig, Sp. Musc. Frond., 216, plate 53, figs. 15-20. 1801; Amblystegium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg

Plants in ± stiff mats, yellowish to dark green, dull. Stems to 15 cm, creeping, stiff, rigid; cortical cells in 2-4 layers, walls incrassate; axillary hair basal cell 1, brown, distal cells elongate. Stem leaves ovate-lanceolate to ovate-triangular; basal laminal cells short-rectangular, often pigmented, walls firm, eporose, region weakly differentiated; medial cells 2-7:1. Seta dark red, 1.2-2.2 cm. Capsule constricted below mouth when dry; exothecial cells long- to short-rectangular, 30-105 × 18-35 µm, walls firm, not collenchymatous; annulus separating, 2-4-seriate, cell walls thin; operculum acute, apiculate, or rostrate; exostome teeth yellow-brown, external surface cross striolate basally, coarsely papillose distally, internal surface trabeculate; endostome basal membrane high, segments not or narrowly perforate. Spores finely papillose.

Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora): North America, Mexico, Central America, South America, Eurasia, s Africa, Pacific Islands (New Zealand), Antarctica.