[1] The plant has stems growing 10–30 cm tall and bear single, white (rarely pale pink or pale bluish) flowers two centimetres in diameter, with five to nine (most often six) elliptical tepals.

The rhizome, found directly below the surface is whitish, and tends to form dense clonal colonies.

The species differs from Anemonoides nemorosa in its white or pale blue anthers (unlike the yellow anthers of A. nemorosa) and simple lanceolate leaflets lacking the deep lobing of A.

[2] Anemonoides trifolia is very similar to Anemonoides nemorosa, but has a more restricted range in southern and central Europe, from Portugal and Spain east to Hungary, and locally north to Finland, where one small population occurs.

[5] It occurs in hardwood forests and rocky sites up to 1860 metres of altitude.