Clintonia umbellulata is a perennial herbaceous plant that spreads by means of underground rhizomes.

In this case, Clintonia umbellulata is distinguished from C. borealis by the presence of hairs longer than 1 millimeter on the underside midvein.

Perhaps the best known is Clintonia alleghaniensis Harned,[10] which unlike C. umbellulata has ultramarine blue (not black) fruit.

[11] Clintonia umbellulata is endemic to the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States, from New York to Georgia.

[2][12] Counties where the species is known to occur are listed below: The range of C. umbellulata apparently overlaps with that of C. borealis throughout the Appalachian Mountains.

Actually C. umbellulata and C. borealis are allopatric,[4] that is, the ranges of the two species do not significantly overlap but are immediately adjacent to one another.