Mertensia paniculata naturally occurs in the temperate zone of North America, and is known to thrive within the boreal forests.

Within the United States, the plant can be seen in Alaska, as well as the Olympic Mountains, stretching east through Oregon to Idaho and western Montana.

While it is most common in mid-succession, it has been spotted in areas in Alaska and Canada after events such as fire or logging, as an early successional community.

The northern bluebell seems to have the ability to grow once more after said events due to sprouting from buried rhizomes or from vegetative parts from the surface.

Basal leaves vary between 0.05 m and 0.2 m longitudinally and 0.025 m to 0.1 m laterally and come in a variety of shapes, including wide, elliptic-lanceolate to ovate-subcordate, eventually tapering to an acute to acuminate point at the apex.

[10] It has been observed that the plants spread laterally by adventitious roots after fire and it has been inferred that the species is capable of reproducing by sprouting.

[11] While the tall bluebell's organs are not edible whole, it has been used in the past as a pot-herb in the north and in areas of Scotland, due to its place in the borage family.