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Description:
Plants (170–)400–1 200 mm high. Corm 12–18 mm diam.; tunics firm-papery or leathery, splitting from below into coarse fibres. Stem erect or inclined, usually flexed above sheaths of upper 2 leaves, unbranched. Leaves 3, rarely a fourth bract-like leaf below spike, lower 2 basal, lowermost markedly longest, reaching to base of spike or exceeding it, sheathing stem up to middle, 2–4 mm diam., X-shaped in section with main raised and margins slightly thickened, sometimes thickened edges of margins and main vein almost meeting and leaf thus appearing terete, upper 2 leaves largely to entirely sheathing. Spike lightly inclined, ± straight, mostly 3–5(11)-flowered; bracts pale to dark green, sometimes flushed grey above, outer (25–)40–50 mm long, inner slightly shorter to ± as long, acute or forked, twisted to lie against outer bract. Flowers pale to creamy yellow to greenish yellow, tepals darker coloured on midlines, or sometimes with purple to reddish median streaks, reverse of tepals usually dark grey-purple to reddish along midline and sometimes apices, sutures between tepals transparent for ± 10 mm, most conspicuously so between dorsal and upper laterals, weakly scented during day but strongly scented of carnation and cloves in early evening; perianth tube narrowly and obliquely funnel-shaped, 40–63 mm long, narrow cylindric part 20–30 mm long, lightly papillose in lower throat; tepals broadly lanceolate, unequal, dorsal largest, inclined to almost horizontal, 22–28 × 16–20 mm, upper laterals arching outward from base, 22–28 × 9–16 mm, lower tepals united with upper laterals for ± 2 mm and sometimes together for up to 2 mm, ± straight or curving outward distally, 16–22 × 9–12 mm. Filaments (15–)18–25 mm long, included or shortly exserted up to 2 mm; anthers 10–17 mm long, lower 4–5 mm included in tube, pale yellow to light purple; pollen pale yellow. Style arching over stamens, minutely scabridulous below, dividing between upper third and apex of anthers, branches (2–)4–6 mm long. Capsules ± oblong-ellipsoid, 34–36 mm long, ±as long or slightly longer than outer bract. Seeds oval, 5–7 × 4–5 mm, broadly and evenly winged. Flowering time: September to November, rarely in August, occasionally in December or early January at high elevations.
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