Species of Anthoceros are characterized by having a small to medium-sized, green thallus that is more or less lobed along the margins.

The thallus has little to no tissue differentiation, being composed of thin, compactly arranged uniform parenchymatous cells.

The plants grow in moist clay soils on hills, in ditches, and in damp hollows among rocks.

Tubers and persistent apices can remain dormant and survive harsh conditions to form new thalli.

Apospory, a form of apomixis, involves the formation of diploid gametophyte spores directly from the tissue of the plant's sporophyte.