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

Like all members of the genus Roscoea, it dies back each year to a short vertical rhizome, to which are attached the tuberous roots.

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

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, being divided by the Brahmaputra River as it flows south at the end of the Himalayan mountain chain.

[5] Roscoea schneideriana is found in Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan, in China, growing at altitudes of 2,600–3,500 m (8,500–11,500 ft) in mixed forests, moist stony grassland and rocky mountain cliffs.