[1] The six[2] or seven[3] species of the genus belong to a southern, possibly Gondwana element.

Compared to Pallavicinia liverworts,[1][4] their thallus grows erect, and branches tree-like, rather than trailing the ground.

Slime papillae are absent from the thallus margin, though locally present elsewhere.

The pseudoperianth, a tube of thallus tissue protecting the archegonia, is basally fused with the calyptra.

Following fertilization, the sporophyte is enveloped by three structures: the cup-shaped involucre, cylindrical pseudoperianth and the calyptra.