The flowers are greenish-white, scented of vanilla, with spreading sepals and petals.

The pollen masses diverge to touch both sides of the pollinating insect.

Flowering in Britain is in June to July, but earlier in the south of Europe.

The plant is found in woods, open scrub, and grassland including on chalk.

[1] Its world distribution is broadly endemic to Europe: from the British Isles in the west to European Russia and the Caucasus in the east; and from the coastal region of Norway to 65°N, down to the whole of Italy and the Balkans excluding most of Greece.