Leaf orbicular to reniform, cupped, thick-textured, 10–25 × 10–25 mm, dark green above, silvery green beneath. Flower erect or semi erect on a stalk c. 1 mm long, 25–30 × 20–25 mm, translucent green with reddish purple markings. Dorsal sepal oblong, 12–15 × 2.5–3 mm, curved forwards over labellum, apex recurved. Lateral sepals 30–33 mm long, erect above dorsal sepal. Petals 23–25 mm long, erect close to lateral sepals. Labellum base tubular then expanded, c. 10 × 6 mm; labellum boss inconspicuous; margins straight or incurved with a few small teeth; apex with a short tail. [See also Du Puy et al. (1993: 528).]
Mainly found growing with sedges, rushes and small herbs in very wet, boggy communities dominated by mosses and liverworts which float on a waterlogged under-layer (termed a feather bed); this habitat occurs on exposed, bleak, windswept beach terraces in sites that receive moving water from springs and creeks.
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