It is native to Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in elevation.

[4] The Latin specific name ossifragum means "bone-breaker", and refers to a traditional belief that eating the plant caused sheep to develop brittle bones.

The probable origin of this story is that sheep eating a calcium-poor diet are likely to develop bone weakness, and N. ossifragum favours acidic low-calcium soils.

The inflorescence is a spike with bright yellow, star-like flowers about 0.7 in (18 mm) across, which have short white hairs on the orange stamens.

[5][6] The plant can cause photosensitisation, a serious skin condition of sheep called alveld, "elf fire", in Norway.