This is a low fleshy perennial plant of the gentian family. They have dull white or purplish flowers that usually occur in groups of three on top of the stem among within the axils of bract-like upper leaves. Each flower is about ½ inch long. There are two spatula-shaped sepals and four petals that unite in the middle. The lower leaves are reduced to small scales, but the upper leaves are more substantial. They are thick, round or wedge-shaped, opposite on the stem and about ½ inch long.

The plant grows to a height of 3-8 inches and blooms from March to May. It is found in thickets and moist woodlands, from New Jersey and Pennsylvania and south to Florida. To the west it can be found as far as Texas, Missouri and Illinois. In Western Pennsylvania it has been historically documented in southwestern Pennsylvania from Lawrence and Butler counties south to the border and in some of the southern Laural Mountain counties. The genus name of the plant is derived from a Greek word that means “a small coin” and refers to the roundish leaves. The common name also refers to the shape of the leaves.