Bear's Breeches is a leafy, clump-forming perennial herb with tuberous roots. It has a basal rosette of dark glossy green, lobed or divided, glabrous leaves 20 inches long and 12 inches wide on a petiole.  The flowers are borne on an erect spike emerging from the leaf rosette. The sepals are purplish and function as the upper and lower lips of the petals. The petals form a tube with a ring of hairs where the stamens are attached. Flowering occurs in summer and the fruit is a sharply-pointed capsule 3/4" long long containing one or two brown seeds.