A terrestrial herb 2–8.5 dm. high, glabrous except for the roots.. Tubers ovoid, ellipsoid or nearly spherical, sometimes forked, 1.5–5 cm. long, 1.5–3.5 cm. in diameter, shortly tomentose to nearly glabrous.. Roots slender, flexuous, softly hairy.. Sterile stem 5–14 cm. long, covered by 3 or 4 overlapping red-spotted or red-barred sheaths, with 1–3 leaves at the apex; leaves elliptical-lanceolate or elliptical-oblanceolate, acute, 8–29 cm. long and 2–6 cm. broad.. Flowering stem erect, robust or rather robust, often 1 cm. in diameter near the base, terete, leafy throughout its length; leaves 9–13, the lowermost sheath-like, spotted with red or purple, the remainder erect and adpressed to the stem, lanceolate, acute, the largest 5–10 cm. long, 1.5–3 cm. broad, decreasing in size up the stem.. Inflorescence 8–27 cm. long, when flowers are expanded 6–7 cm. in diameter, rather loosely to densely 3-to many-flowered.. Bracts leafy, lanceolate, acute, 1.5–5.5 cm. long, usually shorter than the flowers.. Flowers suberect or ± spreading, orange to vermilion; pedicel with ovary straight, 1.5–2.8 cm. long.. Dorsal sepal elongate-conical to narrowly conical, the spur often not clearly separable from the remainder, from base to true apex 1–2 cm. long, the mouth when spread out 1.5–3.5 cm. broad, the spur erect, broad at its base, slightly thickened in the apical part, often bent at the narrow centre, total length from base of dorsal sepal to apex 2–5 cm.; laterals spreading or defiexed, elliptical or ovate-elliptical, obtuse or rounded, 8–17 mm. long, 6–11 (–17) mm. broad.. Petals erect, inside the dorsal sepal, falcate-or curved-lanceolate, acute, widened and rounded at the base, adnate to the column in the basal part, 9–17 mm. long, 2–5.5 mm. broad.. Lip pendulous or curved forwards, linear, 7–12 mm. long, 1–2.5 mm. broad.. Column erect, ± 3 mm. high; anther terminal, horizontal, 5 mm. long, canals very short, 0.5 mm. long; stigma vertical, transversely elliptical, 4.5 mm. broad.
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An orchid. It has separate sterile and fertile shoots. The sterile shoots are 10 cm tall and have 2-4 leaves. The leaves are 30 cm long and narrowly oval. The fertile shoots are 60-80 cm tall. The flower heads are 7-15 cm long and there are 10-20 flowers. The flowers are red and face downwards.
Spur horizontal from a broadly conical base, 25–35 mm long, constricted in the middle, the apex sub-clavate, usually upcurved, ascending due to the angle of the flowers.
Fertile shoots 60–80 cm tall; cauline leaves imbricate, almost completely sheathing, grading into the floral bracts, 6–9 cm long, obtuse to acute.
Sterile shoots to 10 cm tall, 2–4-leaved; leaves semi-erect, conduplicate, up to 30 cm long, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, acute.
Floral bracts ovate to narrowly ovate, acute to acuminate, reaching to the middle of the flowers.
Dorsal sepal galeate; galea rounded, 10–16 mm long, 9–12 mm wide and 7–8 mm deep, broadly ovate.
Terrestrial herb with separate fertile and sterile shoots; perennating by testicular tubers.
Lateral sepals 12–18 mm long, broadly ovate to broadly oblong, subacute.
Inflorescence sub-dense, 7–15(30) cm long, 10–20(40)-flowered.
Petals 11–18 mm long, oblanceolate, acute, erect, falcate.
Flowers facing down at an angle of 45°, orange-red.
Rostellum lateral lobe parallel, 2–3 mm tall.
Lip 7–12 mm long, narrowly oblong, acute.
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