P. microphylla seeds have been introduced to gardeners outside its native range from seed-collecting expeditions to western China and the Himalayas, though the species remains rare in cultivation.

[2] Seeds generally require at least two years to germinate, producing seedlings described by American botanist and gardener Robert Nold as "incredibly small and look[ing] exactly like columbines dancing on the head of a pin".

[4]: 50  The fruit of P microphylla are occasionally partially developed prior to the sepals being shed, though this is less commonly the case than on P. caespitosa.

Royle described the species base on an imperfect specimen that British botanist Christopher Grey-Wilson believed was in the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as of 2023.

[3] The species was reappraised as a variety of Isopyrum grandiflorum (now P. anemonoides) by the French botanists Achille Eugène Finet and François Gagnepain in 1904.

[6] P. microphylla is frequently confused with P. anemonoides in both literature and internet sources as the two species share many characteristics.

[4]: 49 Paraquilegia microphylla is native across a range spanning Siberian Russia, Central Asia into the Himalayas, and east to Japan.

[3] The Chinese range of this species encompasses mountainous western China, including Tibet and Xizang,[3] as well as Sichuan and Xinjiang.

The Flora of China recorded the plant's range including Kazakhstan, Nepal, northern Pakistan, Sikkim in Bhutan, and Tajikistan.

[1] Paraquilegia plants are cultivated by rock gardeners, with Nold observing that the genus is generally appraised as the domain of only "the most experienced growers".