It is found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and was first described by the Irish naturalist George Allman in 1846.

[1] The column of this species is smooth and roughly cylindrical, being slightly wider at the base and oral disc than in the centre.

The base can grow to a diameter of about 10 mm (0.4 in) and is often ragged in outline; this is because the animal divides by longitudinal fission,[2] and sometimes the two new individuals remain partially united.

Its range includes Scotland, Ireland, the western and southern coasts of England and Wales, southwestern continental Europe and countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

[2] In addition to ordinary sexual reproduction, Corynactis viridis reproduces by means of longitudinal fission;[3] in this process two sides of the anemone draw apart from each other, tearing the animal in half, after which both of the fragments heal and become new individuals.