Bartholina etheliae is a geophytic orchid that grows a single leaf and erect, hairy flower stalk from a small whitish tuber. The heart-shaped leaf, produced in winter, lies flat on the ground. It is hairy and green with reticulated white veins along the surface and an entire, reddish margin. The leaf base is conspicuously curved.

This plant was photographed in October in renosterveld west of Barrydale in the Little Karoo, hiding under robust shrubbery. Blooming commences in late winter, continuing into summer, sometimes slightly earlier in the arid parts of the plant’s distribution (Liltved and Johnson, 2012).