Plants terrestrial, sometimes epiphytic. Stem cylindric, (1.5-)4-7 cm, 4-6 mm in diam., fleshy, with several nodes, mostly enclosed in sheath. Leaves 3-5, obliquely ovate, ovate-oblong, or subelliptic, (4-)6-12 × 2.5-6 cm, base contracted into a sheathlike, amplexicaul petiole 2-4 cm, apex acuminate. Inflorescence erect; peduncle 12-43 cm, wingless; rachis 3-9(-16) cm, 10-or more flowered; floral bracts lanceolate, 3-4(-6) mm. Flowers purplish red, ca. 1.5 cm in diam.; pedicel and ovary 7-10 mm. Dorsal sepal narrowly oblong or broadly linear, 8-9 × ca. 2 mm, 3-veined, margin revolute, apex obtuse; lateral sepals oblong, 6-7 × 3-3.5 mm, margin revolute, apex obtuse. Petals narrowly linear, 8-9 × ca. 0.8 mm, margin revolute; lip superior, ovate-oblong or obovate-oblong in outline, 10-11 × 6-7 mm, shallowly 2-lobed, with a sinus 1(-2) mm deep, with a pair of auricles decurrent backward embracing column, adaxially with a central groove in apical half; auricles ± narrowly ovate, 1/5-2/5 length of lip. Column 1-1.5 mm, stout. Capsule obovoid-oblong, ca. 1.8 × 1 cm; fruiting pedicel ca. 7 mm. Fl. and fr. May-Jul. 2n = 30, 36, 42.
Moist, shady positions in humus rich soils in forests, shaded rocks along valleys, usually terrestrial but occasionally as a lithophyte on moss-laden rocks; at elevations from 300-2,300 metres in the Himalayas.
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