This species is native to areas from tropical and subtropical Asia to the southwest Pacific.Coelogyne imbricata is an epiphytic or lithophytic, clump forming herb with crowded pseudobulbs 80–120 mm (3.1–4.7 in) long and 30–50 mm (1.2–2.0 in) wide.

[2][3][4][5] This species of orchid was first formally described in 1825 by William Jackson Hooker who published the description in Exotic Flora.

[8] The specific epithet (imbricata) is a Latin word meaning "overlapping like roofing-tiles and shingles".

[9] The common rattlesnake orchid usually grows on trees and rocks in rainforest, sometimes in other humid, sheltered places.

[1] In Queensland it is found on some Torres Strait Islands and on the Cape York Peninsula as far south as Townsville.