It was named for Lady Tankerville who was the first person to make the orchid flower successfully in England.

There is a whitish yellow spur 5–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long near the base of the labellum and a narrow raised callus in its centre.

[4][5][7] In 1778, John Fothergill sent specimens of this orchid back from China to England and in 1788, after one had flowered, Joseph Banks formally described the species, giving it the name Limodorum tankervilleae.

The specific epithet (tankervilleae) honours Lady Emma Tankerville, as the orchid had flowered in her greenhouse at Walton-on-Thames near London.

When Charles Louis L'Héritier de Brutelle published his book Sertum Anglicum and cited Joseph Banks' name for this species, he Latinised it to Limodorum tancarvilleae.

[12] As a result, some authorities, including the Australian Plant Census, list the species as Phaius tancervilleae.

[4] It is found in the Indian Subcontinent, New Guinea, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia and certain islands of the Pacific.

Where after flowering, the scape is either laid whole or in sections on a medium such as Sphagnum moss or stood in a container of water.