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An orchid. It grows in the soil. It is 30-55 cm tall. It has an underground tuber 6 cm long by 3 cm wide. This produces an upright stem. The tuber has a dark woolly covering. There are 8-15 leaves that closely overlap the stem. The largest leaf is the lowest and is 5-12 cm long by 2.5 cm wide. The flowers are on a cylinder shaped spike and they have a sweet scent. The spike is 6-16 cm long and 2-5 cm wide. The flowers are close together and there can be 7 or many. The fruit is a narrowly oval capsule. It has slits that release the very small seeds.
Terrestrial herb, geophyte, robust, 0.12-0.61 m high; with globose root tubers. Leaves 8-12, cauline, overlapping, suberect, oblong, rounded, up to 150 x 14 mm. Inflorescence dense, racemose; flowers many, resupinate, light green or greenish yellow with white lip. Sepals unequal; median sepal ovate, 9-12 mm long. Petals undivided, ovate-oblong, spreading, longer than median sepal. Lip 3-lobed, midlobe 10-16 mm long, pendent, 2 side lobes tiny, thread-like, at base of midlobe; spur 15-30 mm long, recurved, apex swollen. Flowering time Jan.-Mar.
Robust, tuberous geophyte to 50 cm, usually densely leafy. Leaves cauline, lanceolate. Flowers many in a dense raceme, green, with greenish white petals and white lip, petals elliptic to suborbicular, lip oblong with basal whiskers and a spur 20-30 mm long, anther reflexed, stigmas ± 1.5 mm long, central rostellum lobe broadly triangular and covering anther.
Robust herb, up to 400 mm high. Leaves several, cauline. Flowers: dorsal sepal 9-12 mm long; petals entire, broadly ovate-oblong, rounded to subacute; lip with filamentous side lobes; spur ± 30 mm long; Jan.-Mar.
Lip 10–14 mm long, 3-lobed to c. 1 mm from base; mid-lobe c. 2 mm wide, side lobes much shorter and narrower, only 1–4 mm long, thread-like; spur 18–30 mm long, straight or sigmoid, swollen towards the tip.
Stem with 8–15 overlapping leaves, the lowermost 1–2 sheath-like, the upper ones bract-like, the largest in the middle, 5–12 × 1–2.5 cm, lanceolate, acute, the edge often undulate, ± distichously arranged.
Robust terrestrial herb, up to 400 mm tall. Dorsal sepal 9-12 mm long. Petals broadly ovate-oblong, rounded to subacute. Spur ± 30 mm long.
Dorsal sepal 8–10 × 4–6 mm, ovate, erect, convex; lateral sepals 9–12 × 3–4 mm, spreading, curved-lanceolate, subacute.
Inflorescence densely 5 to many-flowered, up to 16 × c. 4 cm; bracts up to 25 mm long, lanceolate, acute.
Terrestrial herb up to 50 cm high; tubers c. 4 × 1.5 cm, ovoid, villous.
Petals entire, 8–10 × 6.5–8 mm, orbicular to elliptic, rounded.
Stigmatic arms 2–3 mm long, clavate, truncate.
Rostellum mid-lobe almost covering anther.
Anther 3.5 mm high, canals very short.
Ovary and pedicel 22–27 mm long.
Flowers white or greenish-white.
