Tormentil is a perennial, sometimes erect, sometimes forming a mat. The flowers have four bright yellow petals and four sepals. The leaflets grow in groups of three or five; they are unstalked and deeply cut.
The plant grows in acid or slightly acid soil on many banks, heaths and hills and likes drier root conditions than other Potentillas. It differs from others also in having four petals instead of five. Tormentil has tannin in the roots; in the past country people in Ireland used it to treat burns.
The flowers are in bloom from June to September.
Tormentil grows throughout Britain, Europe, north-west Asia and North Africa.