Growing to 50 cm (20 in) tall and broad, it has small kidney-shaped leaves borne on red stems, and hooded yellow flowers in summer and autumn.

In temperate zones it must be protected from temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F), so must be grown under glass during the winter months, It requires a sheltered position in partial shade.

Impatiens repens has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

[1] Parts of this plant are used in Sri Lankan traditional medicine for treating epilepsy.

The outer surface of the flower tube is densely covered with short, white hairs.