The orchid is native to the western United States (California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho), and to British Columbia, Canada.

Cephalanthera austiniae is a distinctive plant, rising from the dark, moist forest floor on waxy white stems and bearing orchid blossoms which are white or yellowish with yellow centers.

Its leaves, if present, are rudimentary since such structures are not needed for collecting sunlight.

[2] Instead, this mycoheterotroph derives both its energy and nutrients from ectomycorrhizal fungi representing a variety of taxa within the Thelephoraceae[4] The plant is becoming more scarce as its habitat—dense, isolated forest—becomes more rare.

Climate change models forecast decline and possible extinction of this species by the year 2100[5] The plant is listed as apparently secure globally but endangered within its range in British Columbia.