[5]: 707 Campanula rotundifolia is a slender, prostrate to erect herbaceous perennial, spreading by seed and rhizomes.

The basal leaves are long-stalked, rounded to heart-shaped, usually slightly toothed, with prominent hydathodes, and often wither early.

As with many other Campanula species, all parts of the plant exude white latex when injured or broken.

As of 2023[update], no varieties or subspecies of Campanula rotundifolia are accepted in Plants of the World Online (POWO).

Campanula rotundifolia occurs from Spitzbergen,[6] extending in mainland Europe from northernmost Scandinavia to the Pyrenees and the French Mediterranean coast.

[2][28][23] If using these sources it is widely distributed through North America including all of Canada and most of the United States.

The plant often successfully colonises cracks in walls or cliff faces and stable dunes.

[6] C. rotundifolia is more inclined to occupy climates that have an average temperature below 0 °C in the cold months and above 10 °C in the summer.