The rhizoids are not slender, unlike similar species R. magnifolium and R. pseudopunctatum, and they grow in the leaf axils.

[3] Rhizomnium punctatum is native to most of Europe and North America and is also found in the Azores and Madeira, North Africa, Turkey, the Caucasus, Iran and Asia east to Siberia.

[1] It is found on all corners of the British Isles, although once again less frequent in Ireland.

It also has a more scattered range in the East, from Cambridge north to Kingston upon Hull.

It can be found on Scilly, Orkney, Shetland and the Isle of Man.