Evergreen perennial to 50 cm. Rhizome creeping near soil surface. Leaves petiolate, blades broadly elliptical, obscurely dentate, 40 cm x 30 cm. Flowers lilac-reddish, in paniculate corymb-like inflorescence. V - (new leaves) mid spring (in St. Petersburg in May). Fl - early and mid spring. Fr - June-July. P - by seed or division. Prefers a sunny position with low level of soil water. Grows well in shady places. Cultivated worldwide.

Siberia (southern and eastern regions), Central Asia (Dzungaro-Tarbagatay) and northern Mongolia. On rocks on stony slopes and on cliffs.

Three species from the Far East are also in cultivation. Bergenia pacifica Kom. and B. stracheyi (Hook. fil. et Thoms.) Engl. both differ from B. crassifolia in their leaf form and margin and their compact inflorescences. B. ugamica V. N. Pavlov has a dense inflorescence of bright crimson flowers. The first and the last are new.