It has been introduced to North America as a garden plant and in places, particularly the Pacific Northwest, has become naturalised and is viewed as an invasive species and noxious weed.

The shining cranesbill is an annual plant with stems up to 35 cm (14 in) long, brittle, fleshy, hairless and often red.

Leaves round or kidney-shaped and glossy, palmately-lobed or divided bluntly to about two-thirds of their depth, sometimes with short hairs on the upper surface.

[5] The shining cranesbill is common on limestone rocks and walls, and in churchyards on roadside verges, banks, gardens and bare ground; it thrives on chalky or sandy soil.

[8] When naturalised in the Pacific Northwest, it is often seen in association with the related European plant, herb Robert (Geranium robertianum), also classified as a noxious weed.