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Description:
Plants 250–700 mm high. Corm 20–40 mm diam.; of soft to moderately coarse fibres, sometimes papery, with short or long collar. Stem unbranched or with 1 or 2 short ascending branches, 2–4 mm diam. Basal leaves 3 to 6, green at flowering, reaching ± to base of spike, blades linear-lanceolate to lanceolate, 150–500 × 4–10 mm, acuminate or often attenuate, narrowed below and subpetiolate, with 2 or 3(4) veins; cauline leaves 2–4, lower 1 or 2 like basal but smaller, upper 1 or 2, subulate, 25–30 mm long. Spike moderately densely ± 7–25-flowered, 70–300 mm long, 2-ranked; bracts flushed red or purplish, softly leathery, lanceolate, outer 12–20 mm long, acute or acuminate, inner slightly longer. Flowers bright or dark red, unscented; perianth tube dimorphic, sharply bent, 20–30 mm long, slender in lower 8–15 mm, widening at bend into cylindric upper part ± 12–15 mm long, tepals unequal, arising very obliquely, lower lateral tepals joined to upper laterals for 2–4 mm and the upper laterals joined to dorsal for an additional 6–8 mm, dorsal tepal largest, horizontal, oblanceolate-spathulate, clawed in lower half, 26–33 × 6–9 mm, obtuse, lower tepals spreading, later reflexed, elliptic to oblong, shortly clawed, upper lateral tepals and lower median tepal smallest, 10–13 × 4–6 mm, lower lateral tepals, 12–16 × 5–7 mm. Filaments arcuate, later recurved, 33–38 mm long; anthers 6–8 mm long, yellow flushed red, obtuse, almost medifixed. Style 45–60 long, dividing opposite upper half of anthers, branches 2.5–4 mm long, sometimes bifid. Capsules elliptic to oblong, slightly inflated, (12–)15–30(–40) × 10–15 mm, pale creamy flushed pink with darker impressed-reticulate sculpturing. Seeds up to 5 mm long, winged on angles. Chromosome number 2n = 32±0–2B. Flowering time: usually Sept.–Dec.
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