Native to Japan, Korea, and China, the plant grows to about 40 cm (16 in) tall and blooms with pale pink flowers.

[2] The species was first described as a member of the genus Isopyrum by the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1818.

[4]: 45–46 [1] In 1946, the American botanist Philip A. Munz rejected Makino's identification of Semiaquilegia as a distinct genus and reassigned the species to Isopyrum.

[4]: 46–47 [1] Semiaquilegia adoxoides is considered native to central and southeastern China, Korea, and Japan.

[1] In 1946, Munz observed that S. adoxoides (which he considered an Isopyrum) was occasionally sold by nurseymen for cultivation in the United States, though these plants were erroneously labeled as Aquilegia ecalcarata.