This native perennial member of the orchid family is also called the lesser padded-leaved orchid or the round-leaved bog orchid. It has a pair of glossy, dark green, roundish leaves at the base.  The plant produces a flowering stalk with as many as 30 conspicuous greenish-white flowers. The flowers have a long tapering lower lip, though this is shorter than the long nectar spur at the rear of the flower. The flowers are pollinated by at least two species of noctuid moths that can insert their proboscis into the nectar spur.

It is generally a woodland plant, especially in old growth stands of timber, though it is also reported around bogs and on banks of streams and lakes. It also seems to require many other specific habitat features. It is found in Canada and the northern part of the United States (including Alaska) as well as further south in the mountains in the East. Historically it has been documented in all of the counties of Western Pennsylvania except Cambria and Washington. It is not a common plant in any of these areas. Deer, elk and a number of invertebrates are known to feed on the leaves.

There are two subspecies of this orchid, one larger than the other. The blooming period is June to August.