A small perennial herbaceous plant. The rhizome is multi-headed, horizontal, shapeless, lumpy, often with short branches, cylindrical or tuberous, with numerous thin roots, hard and heavy. The outer color is dark brown; freshly dug rhizomes are light pink inside, but after drying, they become dark red or reddish-brown. Stems are erect or ascending, thin, and branching at the top. Stem leaves are sessile, trifoliate, with two large stipules, giving them the appearance of being five-lobed; the leaflets are lanceolate or oblong-wedge-shaped and coarsely serrated. Root leaves usually fall off by the time of flowering, are long-petioled, and divided into 3–5 lobes.
Flowers are solitary, borne on long, thin peduncles. Like other members of the genus, the calyx is double, but unlike other species in this genus, which have 5-merous flowers, here the flowers are 4-merous: there are 4 outer sepals alternating with 4 inner ones. The corolla is also 4-petaled, with golden-yellow petals that have red spots at the base. There are numerous stamens. The fruit is aggregate, consisting of numerous dry achenes seated on a slightly elevated receptacle.
Cinquefoil grows in sparse coniferous and mixed forests, on forest glades and edges, damp meadows along rivers, alder and willow shrubs, and damp meadows. In moist areas, larger rhizomes develop, but it also grows on dry meadows. It is widely distributed in the northwestern European part of Russia. In Western Siberia, its range is narrow, reaching as far as Tomsk, but it is not found further east.
The rhizomes of cinquefoil (Rhizoma Tormentillae) are used. Rhizomes are harvested in autumn, cleaned of thin adventitious roots, washed, and dried.
The rhizomes contain tannins (15–30%) of a mixed nature, with a predominance of condensed tannins and free polyphenols. Flavonoids have also been identified.
It is used as an astringent and bactericidal agent for gargles and compresses, and internally for intestinal catarrh and dysentery. A tincture is prepared with vodka (10:200) or a decoction: one tablespoon of coarsely crushed rhizome per glass of water, boiled for 20 minutes. Take one tablespoon 3–5 times a day.