Syntrichia echinata (Schiffn.) Herrnst. & Ben-Sasson, previously known in Europe only from Crete and Greece, is reported for the first time in Italy. It has been collected at Rocca Busambra in northern Sicily. Outside Europe, this Mediterranean montane species is distributed in south-western Asia. The principal distinctive characters that separate it from other Syntrichia species with pedicellate papillae, such as S. minor, S. papillosissima and S. subpapillosissima are discussed.