Plants 550-700 mm high, with thinly villous cataphylls. Corm globose, 30-40 mm diam.; tunics of moderately coarse fibres, accumulating in a thick mass. Stem flexed lightly above sheaths of upper 2 leaves and inclined above, unbranched. Leaves (2)3, lowermost basal and sheathing lower 1/3 of stem, sheath usually sparsely villous or not, 10-50 mm long, narrowly lanceolate, overlapping second leaf, this entirely sheathing and glabrous, uppermost leaf shortest and bract-like; non-flowering plants with solitary, narrowly lanceolate leaf up to 300 mm long (probably longer later in season), pubescent, margins, main vein and one or more other vein pairs lightly thickened, margins not raised. Spike inclined, ± straight, 9-to 15-flowered; bracts grey-green, usually flushed purplish, becoming dry as flowers open, outer 20-25 mm long, inner slightly shorter. Flowers pale blue-mauve, lower lateral tepals with dark purple streak in midline and lightly to darkly shaded with purple in lower half, unscented; perianth tube obliquely funnel-shaped, ± 10 mm long; tepals broadly lanceolate, apiculate, dorsal largest, inclined over stamens, 28-30 x 14-16 mm, upper laterals directed forward, curving outward little or not at all distally, lower 3 tepals joined to upper laterals for ± 2 mm and together for ± 3 mm, lower laterals strongly clawed, claws ± 2.5 mm long, limbs oblong, ± 14 x 6 mm, channelled toward base, lower median obscurely clawed, ± 20 x 12 mm. Filaments ± 10 mm long, exserted ± 8 mm from tube; anthers ± 7 mm long, blackish; pollen cream-coloured. Style arching over stamens, dividing between middle and upper 1/3 of anthers, branches 2.5-3.0 mm long. Capsules obovoid, broadly 3-lobed above and retuse, (10-)12-14 mm long. Seeds ovate, ± 6 x 5-6 mm, evenly winged.
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