Roscoea tibetica is a perennial herbaceous plant native to the mountains of China, being found in Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan.

[3] Most members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae), to which it belongs, are tropical, but R. tibetica, 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, 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.

[2] It is found in pine forests, scrub and alpine meadows, at heights of 2,400–3,800 m.[2] Some Roscoea species and cultivars are grown in rock gardens.

Plants grown at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as R. tibetica produced small dark purple flowers, one at a time, from early June to July.