Plant: cryptic. Leaf small, dark green, stiff, spiralled - often around the stem.

Flowers: usually solitary, metallic purple with darker veins, sepals green-backed. Column mauve, top open, shorter than the large yellow anther. Column with bulbous naked arms.

Habitat: found on north facing bare compacted sands or clays, protected from wind. Far north, rare.

Flowering: August to September.

Conservation: very local, in small patches; nationally critical. North Cape peninsula area.

Notes: distinctive spiral leaf and metallic violet flowers with blunt yellow column arms lacking cilia.

Key features: spiral leaf, metallic blue flower, yellow, bulbous, naked column arms and large yellow pollinia.