A small perennial herbaceous plant with a thin and longish rhizome, from which above-ground shoots depart. The stem is straight, bearing in the upper part 2, sometimes 3 heart-shaped, with a sharp apex, notched leaves at the base and an apical cylindrical raceme of small, white, fragrant flowers on long pedicels. The fruit is a red berry. Blooms from May to July.
It grows in dense coniferous, mixed and oak forests, mainly on dry soils, between shrubs.
The plant contains glycosides similar to digitalis glycosides.
An aqueous decoction of the minica is used in folk medicine as a heart remedy, for kidney diseases, colds, high fever, and dropsy. Dry leaves (grass) collected during flowering are brewed as tea. Fresh leaves applied to tumors promote their resorption and pain relief. An infusion of herbs is drunk with weakness in the legs.