[1] Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but like other species of Roscoea, R. scillifolia 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.

At the junction of the blade and sheath there are small transparent structures (ligules), 2–3 mm high.

The flowers may be pale in colour (white, pink or rarely mauve) or dark purple.

[5][4] The single functional stamen has a white anther, about 5 mm long, and the typical Roscoea "spurs" on the filament.

R. scillifolia f. atropurpurea has dark purple flowers,[5] and a significantly longer floral tube and surrounding bract.

[1] The description was based on specimens collected in 1887 and 1888 by Père Jean Marie Delavay from Heechanmen, near Dali in Yunnan.

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.