[2] Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but like other species of Roscoea,[3] R. ganeshensis grows in much colder mountainous regions.

When growth begins again, "pseudostems" are produced: structures which resemble stems but are actually formed from the tightly wrapped bases (sheaths) of its leaves.

[6] R. ganeshensis can be distinguished from similar species of Roscoea by its very short internodes, leaves covered with fine hairs and the appearance of the labellum, which is crumpled with very distinct "shoulders" on its upper corners.

The unusual mountainous distribution of Roscoea may have evolved relatively recently and be a response to the uplift taking place in the region in the last 50 million years or so due to the collision of the Indian and Asian tectonic plates.

The two clades correspond to a geographical separation, their main distributions being divided by the Brahmaputra River as it flows south at the end of the Himalayan mountain chain.

It has been suggested that the genus may have originated in this area and then spread westwards along the Himalayas and eastwards into the mountains of China and its southern neighbours.

[9] According to Cowley (2007), Roscoea ganeshensis is only known from one locality, the Buri Gandaki valley in the Ganesh Himal, central Nepal, where it occurs at about 1,900 metres on a steep rocky bank.

General recommendations for the cultivation of roscoeas are a moisture-retaining but well-drained soil, with a mulch of a material such as bark, and shade for at least part of the day.