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Description:
Plants 60–300 mm high. Corm conic, 10–20 mm diam., tunics pale, of medium-textured fibres, accumulating with age but not forming collar. Stem flexed outward above uppermost sheath and then suberect, minutely puberulous, usually simple. Leaves 6–9(–11), prostrate or suberect, usually slightly longer than stem, narrowly lanceolate, 50–200(–250) × 4–10(–14) mm, tapering-attenuate. Spike lightly flexed to horizontal, 3–8-flowered; bracts obivate, herbaceous, green with hyaline margins, 5–10(–12) mm long, acute or lower weakly tridentate, inner slightly shorter. Flowers (30–)35–45 mm long, white, usually flushed dull purple on reverse of tepals, base of lower median tepal (rarely lower laterals also) marked yellow-orange, lower tepals, especially laterals, with purple or mauve veins in basal half, strongly violet-scented; perianth tube (15–)20–30 mm long with basal narrow part 5–9 mm long, widening abruptly into wider, flared upper portion; tepals with dorsal largest, suberect, oblong-elliptic, 13–22 × 6–10 mm, upper laterals slightly narrower, oblong, lower tepals recurved, lower laterals oblong-elliptic, 15–20 × 6–8 mm, lower median oblong, 12–20 × 5–7 mm. Filaments arcuate, 15–20 mm long, included; anthers 4–6 mm long. Style dividing at or slightly beyond anther apices. Capsules ovoid, 11–12 × 8–9 mm, papillate-verrucose. Seeds obliquely globose with inflated chalaza and raphe, 2.0–3.0 mm diam., finely wrinkled, glossy reddish brown. Flowering time: mid June–mid July.
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