It has two leaves and a single green to greenish pink flower with a black, ant-like callus on the base of the labellum.

[2][3][4] Chiloglottis palachila was first formally described in 1991 by David Jones and Mark Clements from a specimen collected at Barrington Tops and the description was published in Australian Orchid Research.

[1] Jones notes that the specific epithet (palachila) is "from the Latin palachilus meaning "spade-shaped".

[3] The spade-lipped wasp orchid grows in open forest near rainforest, especially near streams, but also under low shrubs on exposed peaks.

It occurs in disjunct populations at Point Lookout, Barrington Tops and Mount Kaputar National Park.