Bulb medium sized, globose covered with brownish cartilaginous tunics, neck short, 2 cm. long. Leaves 6, hysteranthous, 13-20 cm long, up to 6-5 cm broad, oblong, subacute, smooth, green with narrow red margins, two-ranked when emerging, but becoming completely adpressed to the surface of the ground and spreading. Peduncle stout varying in length from 6-20 cm high, up to 2 cm diam., slightly compressed, tinged red. Spathe valves 2, up to 6 cm long and broad, ovate, obtuse or slightly emarginate, purplish-red. Umbel up to 20 cm diam., up to 70-flowered. Pedicels reddish-brown, 4-8 cm long, in young heads about 2 mm diam. at base, the outer ones curving upwards so that the flowers are all erect and more or less at the same level. Perianth light ruby red, actinomorphic; segments 2-6 cm long and up to 8 mm broad in the upper half, narrow oblong obtuse, erect, adnate into a tube 4-5 mm long. Stamens up to 3 x 3 cm long, erect, longer than the segments; filaments filiform, adnate to the perianth tube; anthers dark, up to 3 mm long. Style erect a little shorter than the stamens. Ovary obtusely angled in the very young stage, soon becoming broadly angled at the apex, tapering gradually into the pedicel. Capsule membranous, up to 3 cm broad at the apex, emarginate, 5 cm long. In the fruiting stage the pedicels straighten out and especially in the plants with the longer peduncles, they radiate out to form a large globose head.
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Bulbous geophyte, 200-300 mm tall. Leaves 5-7, dry at flowering, prostrate, upper surface rough. Flowers in a compact, brush-like head, pedicels soon spreading and elongating, tepals almost regular, ruby red to rose pink, stamens suberect. Capsule three-angled and heavily ribbed.
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