It has two or three leaves at its base, and up to twenty small white flowers often lacking the nectary spur present on other species in the genus.

The petals are similar in size to the lateral sepals.

[2] Habenaria xanthantha was first formally described in 1869 by Ferdinand von Mueller and the description was published in Fragmenta Phytographiae Australiae.

[3] The specific epithet (xanthantha) is derived from the ancient Greek words xanthos (ξανθός) meaning "yellow" and anthos (ἄνθος) meaning "flower",[4] although no yellow-flowering forms have been seen in the last fifty years.

[2] The freak rein orchid grows in moist to wet woodland on some Torres Strait Islands and on Cape York Peninsula south to Proserpine.