The height of Gastrodia elata is 30 to 100 cm, sometimes up to 2 meters. Its rhizome is thick, tuberous, oval or nearly dumbbell shaped, fleshy, 8 to 12 cm long, 3 to 5 cm in diameter, and sometimes larger. Stem erect, color orange yellow, yellow, gray brown or blue green, no green leaves.
The main root of ginseng is 30 to 60 cm high, thick, fleshy, yellow white in color, upright and cylindrical in shape. It has palmate compound leaves, 3 to 5 leaflets, elliptic or obovate leaves, 4 to 15 cm long, 2 to 6.5 cm wide, and serrulate margins.
Gastrodia racemes, 5 to 30 cm long. There are 30 to 50 small flowers in the inflorescence, the bracts of the flowers are oblong lanceolate, 1 to 1.5cm long, membranous, the flowers are twisted, the flowers are orange yellow, yellow white, blue green or light yellow.
Summer flowering, umbel, a single terminal in the foliage, total pedicel length of 30 cm, each inflorescence has 4 to 40 florets, bracts are strip shaped lanceolate, petals have 5, oval, whole, flowers pale yellow green.
