Cryptocoryne regina resembles C. auriculata in having leaves with a green to pinkish marbled, triangular-ovate, somewhat spongy blade, but the spathe limb differs in being obliquely twisted, whitish to purple, with an indistinct, lighter collar zone. Its chromosome number is 2n = 28, a number that has previously been reported for the C. beckettii Thwaites ex Trimen group from Sri Lanka.