Ecology and distribution. Open montane to páramo and humid puna; on soil and rocks. Frequent, at elevations from 1500-5010 m (Venezuela: ? m, Colombia: 2000-3500 m, Ecuador: 1860-3560 m, Peru: 2100 m, Bolivia: 1500-5010 m). Widespread, in the Neotropics confined to high elevations.
The feature that readily distinguishes B. campylocarpum is the inflated inner basal leaf cells (not unlike Syrrhopodon); B. jamesonii is similar with strongly toothed and plane distal margins, but the inner basal cells are gradually differentiated, and somewhat thick-walled, not inflated. Bryoerythrophyllum campylocarpum was previously considered a synonym of B. jamesonii (Zander, 1978), however, later studies (Long 1982, Zander 1986) recognized the former taxon as district. Between the former and latter two studies many collections were named B. jamesonii; most collections now should be re-examined to determine the correct name.