An orchid that likes altitude and cool climates: It can be found from 500 m in the Alps, the Pyrenees and sometimes the Massif Central, Jura and Vosges. Elsewhere, it can be found in Northern Europe or Russia. Unique in its kind.

A medium-sized plant (between 10 and 30 cm), it grows in meadows or on the edge of high-altitude lakes.

Quite easy to identify and generally visible among the vegetation, it develops a variable inflorescence of around 10 to 50 flowers, white to very pale yellow in color.