Plants 12-60 cm. Pseudobulbs conic, slightly compressed, 5-7 × 2-3 cm, sheathed by bracts and persistent leaf bases, previous year´s pseudobulb usually present, connected by short rhizome, producing numerous fibrous roots. Stems pale green or green, sometimes suffused with purple-maroon, angled, prominently winged distally. Leaves 3-7, sheathing stem and pseudobulb, reduced distally to minute bracts; blade green, glossy, plicate, ovate or elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 6-30 × 5.5-12 cm, membranaceous, apex broadly rounded to abruptly acuminate. Inflorescences 3-26 cm; floral bracts subulate to triangular-lanceolate, 6-12 × 3 mm, apex acuminate; pedicels stout, 3-5 mm. Flowers 10-40, greenish purple; dorsal sepal oblong-elliptic to linear-oblong, 5-8 × 1.8-4 mm, margins strongly revolute, apex broadly rounded to obtuse; lateral sepals falcate, ovate-oblong to elliptic, 4-7 × 2-3.5 mm, apex obtuse to subacute; petals falcate, linear-oblanceolate to narrowly spatulate, nearly tubular, 5-7.5 × 1-2 mm, margins strongly revolute; lip strongly arcuate-recurved, obcordate to broadly cuneate or oblong-flabellate, base obsoletely auriculate, apex emarginate, sometimes mucronate; callus with 2 fleshy tubercles on basal portion, maroon-purple, 4-5.5 ×3.5-5.3 mm; column stout, 3.5-5 × 1-1.5 mm, winged apically; anthers bright green; pollinia yellow. Capsules obovoid to ellipsoid, 12-15 × 5-6 mm.

Flowering Jul--Sep. Cypress swamps on decaying logs and stumps, in rich humus of hammock or in wet muck, also dense hardwood forests; 0--1500 m; Fla.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America; Asia (Formosa, India, Japan, Thailand); tropical Africa; Pacific Islands (Philippines).

Liparis nervosa, a pantropical orchid, is probably the most widespread orchid in the world. Liparis nervosa has over fifty different published synonyms from tropical areas.