It is native to the forests of the west coast of North America from British Columbia to the San Francisco Bay Area.

It is yellowish, cream or white in color, lacking chlorophyll, with the tips of the bracts darkening with age.

It produces a fleshy stemless peduncle above the leaf litter of the forest floor, reaching no more than 10 to 12 centimeters tall.

The aboveground portion of the plant is essentially just inflorescence, with cylindrical whitish flowers blooming for a short time.

It produces a fleshy berry under a centimeter wide containing many tiny, sticky seeds.