It is native to the lowlands of Western Europe and Central Asia, but in the United Kingdom it is a rare and protected plant, growing only in Yorkshire, on grassland sites such as Quarry Moor.

[2] It is a herbaceous and self-supporting plant with simple broad, scale-like leaves,[4] normally growing up to 70 centimetres (28 in),[2] and it flowers between May and July.

[7] In the United Kingdom it prefers dry, calcareous soil without shade, and an altitude of 100–150 metres (328–492 feet).

[9] At Wharram it has a "good population" of up to 224 flower spikes (2017), parasitising woolly thistle, and can grow quite tall there (up to 81 centimetres (32 in)) although it may have been introduced artificially.

[10] It was notified in 1989 on Hook Moor SSSI,[11][12] where Natural England suggests that rabbit activity is beneficial to the survival of this plant.

[13] It grows at Quarry Moor, which was notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1986, partly because it featured O.