Abstract: Bryum laevigatum Hook.f. & Wils., an amphipacifi c south temperate species was previously not known from the African continent. Its occurrence here is restricted to the Afroalpine ericaceous belt between altitudes of 2800 and 3280 m, usually along streamlets or on dripping rocks. Hitherto it was found by the author and by his companions only on the highest mountains of Africa, as on Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya, Mt. Elgon and in the Aberdare Mountains. Interestingly it does not occur in southern Africa. Its general distribution covers SE Australia and New Zealand, other southern temperate and subantarctic islands (Marion, Prince Edward, Falkland, Kerguelen, Macquerie), in South America it occurs from southernmost tip (near to the sea level) to SE Brazil and S Uruguay and extends to the tropical Andes (between alt. 3000–4335 m). It does not occur in Indomalesia and in New Guinea.