Plants ± acaulescent or shortly caulescent, 50-100 mm high excluding basal leaves. Corm bell-shaped, 10-12 mm diam.; tunics brown, rough-surfaced, basal rim lightly crenate. Stem usually reaching 10-40 mm above ground, several-branched, branches crowded to form a compact, stalked rosette. Foliage leaves ± 5, usually lowermost longest, up to 200 mm long, linear, lightly ribbed, margins of sheathing portion ± straight, remaining leaves shorter than basal, becoming ± bract-like. Inflorescence congested, head-like, many-flowered; outer bracts ovate at base, tapering to apex, channelled throughout, often hooked at tips, 50-100 mm long, leaf-like distally, reaching or slightly exceeding flowers, margins undulate to slightly crisped; inner ± 1/2 as long, transparent with 2 green keels. Flowers actinomorphic, evidently uniformly white to cream-coloured, ?probably sweetly scented; perianth tube (30-)33-40 mm long, slender, straight; tepals subequal, ± lanceolate, 10-14 x ± 3 mm, acute, held ± at right angles to tube. Stamens symmetrically disposed in a ring around style; filaments exserted ± 2 mm, arching outward after anthers split; anthers (3-)4 mm long, white. Style dividing opposite middle 1/3 of anthers; style branches ± 2.3 mm long, recurved, forked for ± 1/2 their length, rarely undivided. Capsules obovoid, ± 5 mm long, concealed in leaf bases, papillate in upper 1/3. Seeds probably globose (only immature known), surface reticulate.
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