The showy orchis is a true member of the orchid family. The flower has a purple or rose-colored hood made of 3 sepals and 2 small lateral petals. It also has a white lip and spur. The plant grows 4-12 inches tall and grows in rich woods from southern Canada, west to Missouri and to Georgia in the Mountains. It blooms in April or May. It is found on hillsides that are rocky and damp and near springs, always under the cover of a deciduous forest canopy.

Long-tongued bees, butterflies and moths are the principal pollinators and receive nectar in the long spur as reward for their trouble. The fruit is a capsule that is up to one inch long. The plant produces 2 wide smooth basal leaves and a central flower stalk bearing 3-10 flowers.  The showy orchis should never be dug up as transplanted plants usually die.