This moss is easy to recognize by its bright yellow-green color. Found in acidic, moist habitats, turgid bog moss consists of unbranched (or rarely branched) stems in clumps. The stems are covered in dense red-brown rhizoids, looking like a layer of felt (may need to scrape away leaves to see this). Hooded glow moss found from beneath a retreating glacier in the Canadian High Arctic were found to recover and start growing—after 400 years of being trapped in the ice! (LaFarge et al. 2013). Shoots are 3-12 cm long. The moss is thick and has concave, blunt-tipped leaves, distinguishing it from A. palustre.

Hooded glow moss is dioecious. Plants are not typically fertile in Denali, and spread vegetatively instead.

Circumpolar arctic-alpine.