Labrador tea is an evergreen, highly branched, erect shrub growing 0.5-1.5 m tall. The twigs are covered with ruty hairs and have a spicy scent when scraped. The leaves are alternate, narrowly oblong to 6 cm, with inrolled margins and dense white to rusty hairs on the undersides. The flowers are small, numerous, white with protruding stamens, and borne in dense clusters at the tops of the stems. The fruits are drooping, hairy capsules. Labrador tea is uncommon in boggy, acidic, nutrient-poor coniferous forests and peatlands at low to middle elevations.