[2] It is a slowly spreading rhizomatous perennial native to mountain streamsides in woodland in the western United States (western Oregon to northwestern California), growing to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall by 1 m (3 ft 3 in) wide.

The name Darmera honours Karl Darmer, a 19th-century German horticulturist.

The leaves are peltate, rounded, deeply lobed, coarsely toothed, conspicuously veined and dark green, also on stems up to 2m in height.

It is suited to smaller gardens where there is no room for Gunnera manicata or Gunnera tinctoria, distantly related plants that are somewhat similar in appearance, but much larger.

Darmera peltata has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.