It can be seen most easily when its bright yellow umbel flowers appear from May to early July standing 3 to 4 feet (0.9 to 1.2 m) along marshes, stream banks and slough areas where it likes to grow.

[6] In the early stages of growth, the leaves, stem, and flower heads are all covered with translucent hairs, producing a "greenhouse effect" close to the surface of the plant, essentially extending the growing season by a few vital days by allowing the sun to warm the tissues, and preventing the heat from escaping.

[4] Sparse to dense villous stems are more hollow towards the base;[6] hairs that are white, light yellowish, or reddish brown.

[6] Tephroseris palustris grows in areas that have freezing winters[9] and in moist to wet soils, such as damp meadows, swamps, sandy pond edges[5] and roadside ditches[10] at altitudes of 0 to 3,300 feet (1,000 m)[4] It is the most common annual plant species in the eastern Canadian Arctic.

Two locations are mentioned by United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) having problems from the ever-expanding populations of arctic geese[14] and one from the Arctic Institute of North America of the University of Calgary[15] or from an unpublished report from the Canadian Wildlife Service made available by the USFWS:[16] Tephroseris palustris is reported to be extirpated in Michigan.