Flowering plant to 20 cm tall, stem leaves 2–5, closely sheathing. Rosette leaves 8–14, elliptic to oblong, 2–3 cm long, 6–10 mm wide, margins shortly ciliate. Flowers 2–7, nodding, 2.7–3 cm long, dark reddish-brown with transparent areas in the petals and galea; dorsal sepal with an upcurved filiform point 8–10 mm long; lateral sepals deflexed, conjoined part broadly ovate in outline when flattened, deeply concave, margins slightly incurved, densely ciliate, free points filamentous, 10–15 mm long, curved forwards, widely divergent 1.5–2 cm apart at the tips; petals with a poorly developed proximal flange. Labellum ovate-oblong, 5–5.5 mm long, c. 2 mm wide, brown, thick; marginal hairs in 5–8 pairs, 1–3.5 mm long, white, spreading; basal lobe erect, with numerous hairs c. 0.5 mm long. Flowers Oct.–Nov.
LoM, MuF, Gold, CVU, NIS, HSF. Also ?Qld, NSW. Scattered across drier inland parts of Victoria in Box/Ironbark forests and mallee scrub on well-drained gravelly soils.
Forms sporadic hybrids with Pterostylis setifera.
An undescribed taxon from the Beechworth area has porrect flowers (nodding in P. boormanii), less concave lateral sepal bases and a different shaped labellum (see Pterostylis sp. aff. boormanii (Beechworth).
