[7] In 1926 the Welsh botanist Eleanor Vachell was asked by the British Museum to investigate a report of the ghost orchid in England.

[5] Once thought to be saprophytic, these hardy plants are actually obligate mycoheterotrophs (or epiparasites) that obtain nutrients from mycorrhizal networks involving basidiomycete fungi that are in turn associated with the roots of various species of coniferous trees.

[4] The flowers are most likely pollinated by bumblebees; to reproduce, it produces numerous dust-like seeds that are dispersed by the wind over long distances.

[3][12][13] There are hotspots of records ranging from the boreal regions of Scandinavia stretching as far south as the Pyrenees, the Vercors Massif, northern Greece, and Crimea.

[15] Although its conservation status, per the 2011 IUCN 3.1 assessment in Europe, was Least Concern (LC) due to its low risk of extinction, it is, however, exceptionally rare in habitat.

The plant's rhizomes are densely colonized by fungi bearing clamp-connections and dolipores, all basidiomycetes, gill or pore-forming mushroom species that are normally found growing in mycorrhizal association with the roots of coniferous trees.