The foliage is of fine texture and is lustrous dark green above in summer and often develops a bronze tint in cold weather.

The tiny, inconspicuous flowers are perfect and greenish or reddish-green blooming in late April or early May with four petals and sepals.

The tiny, inconspicuous fruit is a leathery two-valved capsule about 1⁄16 inch (1.6 mm) long and white.

[5] Canby's mountain-lover is rare throughout its natural range from south-central Pennsylvania down into eastern North Carolina to western Kentucky and southern Ohio.

When trying to grow it in a garden or landscape, it is best to grow it in a moist but well-drained organic acidic soil in a shady, sheltered site, as it is finicky and often does not adapt to cultivation and dies out even with good conditions.