Ecology and distribution. Open montane and submontane; on soil. At elevlations from 600-2750 m. Mexico, Central America, Ecuador and Bolivia.
Barbula orizabensis is best distinguished by the strongly recurved leaf margins that extend to the leaf apex; short excurrent costa and pluripapillose laminal cells. This species is common in the Tucuman-Bolivian montane, apparently rare in the Yungas region of Bolivia.