Plants usually solitary, dotted about the veld, never in dense groups. Stem none, or up to 20 cm in old specimens, with old dry leaves persistent, simple or sometimes dividing into 2-3 rosettes, the rosettes compact and up to 20 cm diam. Leaves 20-30, multifarious, arcuate-erect, slightly incurved, glaucous, without spots, smooth, narrowly lanceolate-acuminate, up to 20 cm long, 4 cm broad at base in large specimens: upper surface flat to slightly convex; lower surface convex, sometimes with peculiarly coloured transverse bands; margins armed with minute white teeth 3-5 mm distant. Inflorescence simple or 1-2 branched, usually 2-4 (sometimes up to 6) from a rosette, up to 40 cm high. Peduncle brown, up to 15 mm diam., clothed with numerous ovate-acuminate many-nerved thin whitish sterile bracts up to 15 mm long, 15 mm broad at base. Racemes sub-dense, about 14 cm long, 6 cm diam., the buds denser, the lower flowers more laxly disposed. Bracts lanceolate-acuminate sub-amplexicaul, thin sub-scarious many-nerved, about 5 mm broad, the lowest slightly shorter than their pedicels. Pedicels the lowest up to 20 mm long, shorter upwards. Perianth scarlet-red (R.C.S. I.), greenish at mouth, cylindric-trigonous, 35 mm long, 7 mm diam. near base, the base rounded, not stipitate; outer segments free to base, 3-nerved, the nerves obscure for their greater length turning greenish at apex; the apices straight, sub-acute, scarcely spreading; inner segments free, white with thin edges; with a keel the colour of the perianth for two-thirds its length turning green near apex; the apices more obtuse and slightly brownish on inner side. Filaments white, flattened. Anthers orange, exserted 2-3 mm, Style filiform, white, with the stigma at length exserted 3 mm. Ovary 6 mm long, 2-5 mm diam., pale green. Capsule 30 mm long, 16 mm diam.
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Plants stemless or short-stemmed, 150-200 mm tall, solitary or rarely in small clumps. Leaves 20-30, 100-200 x 20-40 mm, upper surface flat, lower surface convex, glaucous brownish green, margins with minute white teeth or apparently unarmed. Inflorescence a simple, rarely branched, dense raceme; peduncle 300-400 mm long; bracts lanceolate-acuminate, ±14-16 x 5 mm, many-nerved. Flowers scarlet, 23-35 mm long, mouth slightly upturned; pedicels 15-20 mm long. Anthers exserted 0-3 mm. Ovary ±6.0 x 1.5-2.5 mm, pale green; style exserted up to 3 mm. Fruit 25-30 x 16-17 mm, grey.
Acaulescent, rosettes usually single or in dense groups of up to 15, up to 200 mm across. Leaves grey-green, with greyish brown transverse bands, narrow, oblong, up to 200 mm long, 60 mm wide at base, without spots or spines, margins with minute white teeth. Flowers in unbranched, sometimes two-branched, dense, oblong, remarkably large racemes, dull red with greenish yellow tips.
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