Plants 5-20 cm. Leaves: blades 9-20 × 2-10 cm. Inflorescences: floral bracts lanceolate to elliptic, 15-80 × 5-20 mm. Flowers showy; sepals pink-magenta (rarely white), ovate to elliptic, concave, 10-20 × 4-6 mm; lip white (rarely pink-magenta), rhombic- to lance-ovate, 10-18 × 6-15 mm, margins entire or irregularly cuneate, spur conspicuous, clavulate, 9-20 mm, apex obtuse. Capsules erect, ellipsoid, somewhat triangular in cross section. 2n = 42. Flowering spring--early summer. Moist, calcareous woodlands, thickets, and old fields; 0--1300 m; N.B., Ont., Que.; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis. Galearis spectabilis forma gordinierii (House) Whiting & Catling has white flowers; in forma willeyi (Seymour) P. M. Brown, the flowers are entirely pink.