Plants 4-7.5(-10) dm, finely pubescent. Stems sparingly branched. Leaves 5-15 × 2-5 cm; blade ovate to oblanceolate, rounded basally, adaxial surface glabrate or veins moderately pubescent, abaxial surface lanulose, densely so on veins, margins short-pubescent, hairs uniform, pointed sharply forward, apex narrowly acuminate. Flowers 1-3; perianth turbinate, narrowed basally; tepals spreading, greenish white to greenish yellow, linear-lanceolate to linear-elliptic, 15-22 mm, apex long-acuminate; stamens included, 8-15 mm; filaments narrowly dilated basally, 6-12 mm; anthers 2-4 mm, glabrous; ovary narrowly ellipsoid, glabrous, ovules 2 per locule, pendulous; style stout, 8-12 mm, glabrous; stigma weakly 3-lobed. Berries bright red, 1-2(-4)-seeded, globose, 10-15 mm, glabrous. Seeds 5-6 mm. 2n = 18.

Flowering late spring--early summer. Rich moist, deciduous woods, coves; 200--1600 m; Ont.; Ala., Ark., Ga., Ky., Md., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., S.C., Tenn., Va., W.Va.

Recent collections have extended the known range of Prosartes lanuginosa from the unglaciated Appalachians to the other ancient, eastern North American upland, the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas.