Plant: to 50 cm tall, leaves 20cm x 10-15 mm, grassy.

Flowers: large to 10 cm across. Dorsal sepal strongly down-curved and lateral sepals pointing rearward, sometimes meeting behind the ovary and so leaving a large gape. Labellum red, rough, blunt and scarcely protruding past the lateral sepal junction.

Habitat: lowland to montane open forest and scrub. East Cape to Westland.

Flowering: November to January.

Conservation: widespread, locally abundant; not threatened.

Notes: often with P. banksii but the down pointing laterals and strongly curved dorsal make it distinct. Colenso's P. subsimilis which is currently include in this species, has shorter “tails” to the sepals.

Key features: large flower with recurved dorsal sepal rearward pointing lateral sepals and red tipped labellum.