It is a rare ground orchid with a single leaf and usually only one pale greenish-yellow flower.

The tip of the labellum is curled under and there are four or six rows of calli up to 1 mm long, along its mid-line.

[2][3][4] Caladenia xanthochila was first formally described by David and Cam Beardsell in 1992 and the description was published in Australian Systematic Botany from a specimen collected near Murtoa.

[5]: 200 Yellow-lip spider orchid grows in Eucalyptus leucoxylon woodland on sandy soil.

[2][4][3] Caladenia xanthochila is listed as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and as "endangered" under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.