The two species of Buxbaumia Hedw. known to occur in Europe were both originally discovered on this continent and were the earliest in the genus (as presently delimited) to be described. Already widely known, Buxbaumia aphylla Hedw., was validated by Johannes Hedwig in 1801, whereas B. viridis (DC.) Moug. & Nestl. was initially described as a variety of B. aphylla by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1815. After two centuries in the bryological literature, these taxa are herein effectively typified. Lectotypes for the names B. aphylla and B. viridis are designated based on original herbarium sheets from the Hedwig-Schwa¨grichen and De Candolle collections in G.