Leaf cordate to round, 10–20 × 8–18 mm, grey green above, silvery green or reddish beneath. Flower erect or reclining, 10–12 × 9–12 mm, dorsal sepal translucent grey with reddish lines and markings or wholly reddish, labellum dark red with a whitish or pinkish central area. Dorsal sepal obovate when flattened, 10–13 × 6–8 mm, concave, curved forwards and hooding labellum. Lateral sepals c. 3 mm long, thread-like. Petals c. 1 mm long. Labellum 8–10 × 8–10 mm, basal part hidden by dorsal sepal; labellum tube c. 5–6 mm long; blade ovate to heart-shaped, central part domed, surrounded by numerous upright red bristles, margins denticulate, apex extended like a short tail. Spurs c. 1.5 mm long, broadly tapered. Column c. 3 mm long.
Disjunct, generally overlooked and highly localised in coastal and near-coastal areas. Found growing among shrubs in dense, low, wet heath; in and around tussocks and under shrubs in shrubby or heathy forests; and in moist, tussocky sites in open forests in sandy or gravelly soil. Rupp (1969) records it in ‘scrub-land growing underneath Melaleuca globosa’ at Bulahdelah.
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