Buckbean is a green, glabrous plant with creeping rootstock and a ground-hugging stem. The stem varies in length according to the situation. The leaves grow out of these, and the leaflets are about 5 cm long and 2.5 cm broad.

It blooms from June to August on Mount Washington, Vancouver Island. The flowers reside on the tops of long stalks, up to 45 cm high, longer than the leaves, and clustered together in a thick, short spike, rendering them very conspicuous.
Buckbean is one of the prettiest wildflowers in the mountain bogs, where it grows and thrives well.