Description:
Plants (250–)350–500 mm high, with villous cataphylls. Corm globose, 15–20 mm diam.; tunics leathery to woody, fragmenting into coarse vertical fibres. Stem erect, flexed above sheathing parts of 2 upper leaves but becoming erect again, unbranched. Leaves 3, lower 2 basal, lowermost rarely reaching middle of stem, sheaths villous, blades linear, (2–)4–5.5 mm wide, pubescent, margins and main vein lightly thickened, uppermost leaf inserted on ± middle of stem, short and bract-like, often sparsely pubescent, margins of sheath united. Spike ± erect, lightly flexuose, 2–7-flowered; bracts pale green or flushed grey-purple, outer 15–20(–23) mm long, inner slightly shorter or slightly longer, minutely notched. Flowers bright orange, lower 3 tepals sometimes deep yellow and then usually minutely speckled with scarlet toward bases, rarely entirely yellow, unscented; perianth tube 35–43 mm long, with lower part narrow for 11–18 mm, abruptly expanded into a wide horizontal cylindric upper part 22–25 mm long, ± 7 × 6 mm diam.; tepals broadly obovate to ± orbicular, subequal or upper 3 larger, dorsal typically largest, horizontal, 18–23 × 14–18 mm, upper laterals slightly smaller, 15–18 × 14–15 mm, much overlapping dorsal, lower 3 tepals 12–20 × 10–18 mm, straight and tilted toward ground. Filaments 28–32 mm long, exserted 6–9 mm from mouth of tube; anthers 6–8 mm long, dark purple; pollen pale yellow. Style extending horizontally over stamens, dividing between middle or slightly beyond anther apices, branches 3–4 mm long. Capsules ovoid, subacute, 15–20 mm long. Seeds ovate, 8–10 × 6–7 mm, broadly winged with seed body asymmetrically placed. Flowering time: mainly July to September, occasionally as early as April.
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