It has up to twelve, thin, leathery, dark green leaves and up to twelve brown or reddish brown flowers with a mostly white and yellow labellum.

[2][3][4] Sarcochilus dilatatus was first formally described in 1859 by Ferdinand von Mueller who published the description in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae from a specimen collected near Moreton Bay by Walter Hill.

[5][6] The brown butterfly orchid usually grows on trees, often hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii), in drier rainforest.

[2][3] Sarcochilus dilatatus is very rare in New South Wales with only a single recent record from that state and it is classed as "endangered" there.

The main threats to the species are weed invasion and illegal collecting.