Whole plant pink to reddish. Leaf very short, 30–60 × 6–12 mm, dark green or reddish, often partly withered. Flower stem 150–400 mm tall, often reddish, 1–8-flowered. Flowers often cupped, lasting 1–2 days, 14–20 × 10–14 mm; sepals and petals pale green to brownish with reddish stripes; labellum with purplish or brownish papillae. Dorsal sepal narrowly ovate, 9–12 × 6–8 mm. Lateral sepals divergent, 8–10 × 5–6 mm. Petals porrect to incurved, 5.5–7 × 4.5–5 mm. Labellum curved in profile, 10–14 × 6–9 mm, broadly elliptical in outline; basal part with 2–6 smooth metallic blue or reddish plates; central part with sparse, bristly hairs to 3 mm long; labellum margins with several short, relatively thick, whitish lobes, the majority glandular; apical part with tapered glandular tail c. 3 × 1 mm. Column 6–7 × 3.5–4 mm, greenish, with 2 purple sham eyes connected by an obscure ridge.
Localised, but sometimes common; found growing in poorly drained to wet, sandy soil, peat and clay in coastal scrub, sedgeland, heathland, and heathy forest. Often colonises embankments, track margins and roadsides, particularly after disturbances such as forestry operations.
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