The aromatic, glandular green leaves are oval or oblong in shape and variable in size, up to about 4.5 centimetres (1.8 inches) at the largest.

The protruding stamens are tipped with purple anthers and have tufts of yellow hairs around the bases.

It grows in rocky habitat, such as scree slopes and piles of boulders, and can take hold in areas with very little soil.

Other plants in the area include several types of conifers as well as Oregon-grape (Mahonia nervosa), ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor), salal (Gaultheria shallon), redwood sorrel (Oxalis oregana), western sword fern (Polystichum munitum), twinflower (Linnaea borealis), wood rose (Rosa gymnocarpa), pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea), fringed pinesap (Pleuricospora fimbriolata), sugar stick (Allotropa virgata), Pacific rhododendron (Rhododendron macrophyllum), vine maple (Acer circinatum), poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), western rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera oblongifolia), false lupine (Thermopsis montana), yellowleaf iris (Iris chrysophylla), white-veined wintergreen (Pyrola picta), northern sanicle (Sanicula graveolens), calypso orchid (Calypso bulbosa), cream fawnlily (Erythronium citrinum), and field woodrush (Luzula campestris).

The plant may not reproduce efficiently, as evidenced by the apparent lack of seedlings, but it probably spreads via vegetative reproduction.