Stems: scape short, jointed, bracteolate near the middle. Leaves: linear-oblong, subterete, smooth, glaucous. Flowers: sepals six to eight, distinct, broadly ovate, unequal, partly scarious, petals eight to sixteen, narrowly oblong. Fruit: capsule circumsessile at the base, then bursting irregularly, seeds numerous, black, shining.

The large showy rose-pink flowers of this Lewisia are very lovely. The oblong, narrow leaves, which are crowded at the crown of the thick caudex, are smooth and covered with a whitish bloom; while from a fleshy root grow the one-flowered buff-coloured scapes that are jointed and have buff bractlets near the middle.