Wingspan 18 to 22mm. The moth is larger, generally paler and more distinctly marked than the similar E. ericitana with which it shares the same foodplant.

It prefers places such as damp meadows and hedgerows and probably riverbanks.

The moth hides low in vegetation during the day but flies in the evening and later comes to light.

Larvae feed in the roots and underground stems of Marsh Woundwort and also occasionally on Spear Mint.

It is generally distributed but local throughout most of Britain and Ireland. In the Butterfly Conservation's Microlepidoptera Report 2011 this species was classified as local.

It appears to be uncommon in Leicestershire and Rutland, where there are few records. L&R Moth Group status = D (rare or rarely recorded).