The leaves are dark blueish-green on the upper surface and paler below, 2.5-3.5 cm across, with 3-5 shallow lobes that are broadest at the base.

Common names include the Welsh Crafanc-y-Frân Dail Eiddew which translates to "ivy-leaved claw" and the Swedish for "ivy flower", Murgönsmöja.

It often grows on the cattle-poached edges of ponds, ditches and streams, in wet gateways and on paths and tracks and sometimes disappears for a year or two in dry times.

[5] Its Ellenberg values in Britain are L = 7, F = 9, R = 5, N = 5, and S = 0, which show that it favours wet, sunny places with neutral to slightly acid soil and low fertility, avoiding brackish situations.

[10] In Europe, its conservation status is LC (Least Concern), although the European Environment Agency considers it to be synonymous with R. hyperboreus, which has a wider distribution.