Coptis is a perennial stemless herb, 20?50 cm high. Leaves basal, long petiolate; blade triangular-ovate, 3?8 cm long by 2.5?7 cm wide, ternatisect; leaflets pinnatifid, lobes incised, the terminal leaflet longer than the others. Peduncles 1?2, 12? 25cm long, bracts resembling leaves. Inflorescence a terminal cyme with 3?8 whitish green flowers; sepals narrow-ovate, 9?12 mm long; petals small, oblanceolate, 5?7mm long; stamens numerous, 3?6mm long; carpels 8?12, with carpophores, follicles many-seeded. Seeds with black crustaceous testa. Rhizome shaped like a cockspur, 5?6 cm long, brownish yellow, densely covered with numerous nodes and often with rootlets; interior yellow-orange; in transverse section, the central pith deeper in colour.