[3] The genus is named after a naiad of Greek mythology.

[5] This monotypic genus is abbreviated Aret in trade journals.

This terrestrial and rare orchid occurs in Eastern North America from Manitoba east to Newfoundland and St. Pierre & Miquelon south to Virginia, with isolated populations in northern Saskatchewan and in the Carolinas.

[3][6][7] It occurs in bogs, swamps and other wet lowlands.

It forms a large, single, pink terminal flower, with a showy lip and white and yellow fringed crests.