Plants (4-)11-62 cm. (see note), usually flowering before the leaves.. Tuber depressed-globose, up to 4.2 cm. long, 4 cm. wide; skin dark brown, thick, rough and flaky; flesh tough, corky, white.. Old leaf-sheaths up to 6 cm. long.. Leaf solitary, erect; sheath exserted up to 13 cm., 1-2 mm. diameter, terete, straight or slightly coiled, purple at the base, becoming glaucous towards the blade; blade narrowly lanceolate to falcate, cuneate, acuminate, mucronate, 5.5-14(-19) cm. long, up to 1.7 cm. wide, glaucous green, coriaceous, with prominent parallel veins, margins thickened or involute.. Peduncle 2.5-18(-40) cm. long, up to 3 mm. diameter, dark red towards the base, green above; peduncular bract rarely observed above ground; raceme 7-32 cm. long, up to 10 cm. wide, very lax to dense (see note), conical to corymbose, with 10-50 flowers; bracts triangular, 1-2 mm. long, membranous with a brown midnerve; lower pedicels 1.5-18 cm. long, upper often much shorter.. Flowers 3-14 mm. across, campanulate to spreading or recurved.. Tepals 3-10 mm. long, subequal, lemon to bright yellow with a red-streaked green midnerve.. Filaments subequal, filiform to narrowly lanceolate, yellow, inner erect, 3-4 mm. long, outer more spreading, 2-3 mm. long; anthers small, ovoid.. Ovary ovoid, pale green with some red stippling, 2-2.5 mm. long, 1-2 mm. wide; style short, 1-2.5 mm. long, yellow.. Fruit turbinate, 6-10 mm. long, 5-7 mm. wide.. Seeds ± 6 mm. long, 2 mm. wide, hairs up to 7 mm. long.
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Tuber giving rise to an inflorescence about 1 ft. high towards the end of the dry season
Long-pedicellate yellow flowers which, open in the morning or late afternoon
The erect leaf grows later
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