[3][4][5] Ptilidium ciliare grows in loose, reddish-brown to yellow-green tufts, with individual shoots up to 3 mm wide.

The leaves are up to 2.8 mm wide and 2.3 mm long, and the leaves are finely serrated or ciliated, the margins extended as fringe-like rows of thin teeth.

[5][6] Ptilidium ciliare is commonly found in lowland to upland habitats such as acidic grassland, rocky slopes, cliff ledges, screes, wall tops, dwarf shrub heaths, bogs, sand dunes and heathy woodlands.

Well-drained and acidic substrates are the preferred growth medium of this species.

Mastigophora woodsii is a more robust plant, with longer, attenuated branches on which the leaf size gradually tapers towards the tips.