Plants 150-500 mm high. Corms moderately or very deep-seated, 15-30 mm diam., tunics of coarsely netted, woody fibres, sometimes conate below into flat claws, extending shortly into a fibrous neck to 20 mm long, chestnut brown. Basal leaves 4-6, suberect or spreading, lanceolate, 70-250 x 10-25 (-30) mm, acute to attenuate, plane or canaliculate, with prominent midrib abaxially, soft-textured, glabrous, margins plane or undulate, smooth or ciliolate-scabridulous. Inflorescence a moderately dense raceme up to 35-flowered, with 1 or 2 branches, lower flowers 0.5-0.8 times pedicel length apart; pedicels suberect and deflexed at bracteole, mostly 15-30 mm long; bracteoles mostly inserted in upper third or quarter, sometimes in lower half or quarter. Flowers facing outwards, pink or mauve with darker veins, sometimes with darker centre, or with paler centre variously speckled with dark pink, the whole outlined with darker shading, fragrant; tepals spreading, outer elliptic, (8-) 10-13 x 4-5 mm, apiculate, inner oblanceolate, (8-) 10-13 x 5-6, narrowed below. Stamens dimorphic, 3 + 3; filaments of posterior cluster arcuate to geniculate-sigmoid, 2-5 mm long, connate at extreme base only, yellow with white base, anthers ± sagittate, outer smaller, 1-2 mm long, median 2-3 mm, yellow but grey to purple distally; filaments of anterior cluster deflexed, 1.5-2.5 mm long, connate at extreme base, anthers 5-6 mm long, pale yellow at base, greyish or purple distally. Ovary half inferior, style medially deflexed, (4-) 5-13 mm long, ± as long as or extending well beyond anthers. Capsules erect, ovoid-ellipsoid to oblong, 14-25 (-30) x 8-10 mm, pale with purplish reticulation. Seeds ovoid-ellipsoid, 3-4 x 1.5-2.0 mm, glossy black, rugose.
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Cormous geophyte, 300-400 mm tall. Leaves lanceolate, often undulate. Flowers on suberect pedicels, mauve with purple markings, fragrant, tepals 10-18 mm; anthers bicoloured yellow and grey, 3 upper and 3 lower, upper median anther larger than upper laterals, filaments partially connate basally. Capsule ovoid-ellipsoid, 10-25 mm long.
Cormous geophyte, 30-40 cm. Leaves lanceolate, soft, often undulate. Flowers in branched racemes, mauve to purple with darker markings, fragrant, pedicels suberect, with 3 upper and 3 larger lower stamens.
A herb. It is a corm or bulb plant. It keeps growing form year to year. The leaves are sword shaped and wavy. The flowers are purple with darker centres. They are on erect stalks
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