Terrestrial herb with separate fertile and sterile shoots; perennating by testicular tubers.Sterile shoots 4–7 cm tall, (3)5-leaved; leaves semi-erect, conduplicate, rarely petiolate, 15–30(40) cm long, very narrowly elliptic, acute.Fertile shoots (20)30–50(70) cm tall; cauline leaves usually imbricate, mostly sheathing, grading apically into the floral bracts, to 12 cm long, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, acute.Inflorescence dense, 6–20(30) cm long, many-flowered.Floral bracts c. 1 cm long, lanceolate, acuminate, often dry.Flowers usually facing down; colours variable, pink to scarlet or reddish, often mottled, sepals often turning brown at anthesis, lip and petals green from a purple base.Dorsal sepal angled downwards, galeate; galea 4.5–6.5 mm long, 3.5–4.5 mm wide and 3–4.5 mm deep, ovate to broadly elliptic, obtusely or bluntly apiculate.Spur from the middle of the galea, straight or more usually sharply deflexed at the base, (4)5–7 mm long, cylindrical.Lateral sepals 4.5–6.5 mm long, narrowly oblong to lanceolate, acute.Petals 4–5 mm long, obliquely ovate, acute, erect, partially exserted from the galea, deflexed inwards in about the middle.Lip 4.5–5.5 mm long, lorate to narrowly oblanceolate, obtuse.Rostellum lateral lobes angled forwards.Anther 2.2 mm long.Stigma pedicellate.Ovary c. 8 mm long.
