A deciduous geophyte with a regularly shaped subterranean tuber, leaves erect, 10-30 cm high when in flower. Tuber a cylindrical root with a short flattened stem, covered with peeling dark brown periderms, 3-13 cm long and 8-20 mm in diameter. Leaves radical, mostly simple, occasionally compound with 2 or more lateral pinnae at base of lamina, bright green; lamina (or median pinna) lanceolate or sometimes elliptic, base cuneate, apex acute, margin entire, (3.5-)6.5(-11.5) cm long (10-)15(-20) mm wide, mainly abaxially sericeous, margins sometimes with dense, white, adpressed bristles, bristles prominent when leaves are dried; small lateral pinnae elliptic, 6-20 mm long and 3-10 mm wide; petiole (1.5-)3.5(-10) cm long, pilose; stipules lanceolate, adnate to petioles for more than half their length, ±15 mm long and 1.5 mm wide, membranous, hirsute. Inflorescence: scape radical, 4-18 cm long, branched, bearing 2-5 pseudo-umbellets with 6-15 flowers each; peduncles 2.5-19 cm long, hirsute and densely covered with glandular hairs; bracts narrowly triangular, apex attenuate, 4-9 mm long, abaxially hirsute; flower buds, flowers and fruits erect. Pedicel ±0.5 mm long. Hypanthium 9-12 mm long, indumentum as on peduncle, wine-red. Sepals 5, posterior one triangular, remaining 4 lanceolate, apex acute, 7-9 mm long and 1.5-4 mm wide, indumentum abaxially as on peduncle, adaxially sparsely villous at apices only, wine-red with conspicuously white margins. Petals 2 only, rarely 3, spathulate to elliptic with margins undulate, 7-9 mm long (almost the same length as the sepals), 2 mm wide, apices reflexed at ±90°, dark wine-red. Stamens 10, basally connate, staminal column ±5 mm long, papillate; perfect stamens 5, 8-10 mm long (4 long, 1 shorter), wine-red; staminodes ±6 mm long; anthers 2 mm long, opening with longitudinal slits, pollen orange. Gynoecium: ovary superior, oblong-conical, 5-lobed, 4.5 mm long, densely sericeous; style filiform, 3.5 mm long, with 5 rows of ordinary and glandular hairs, red; stigma with 5 recurved branches, wine-red. Fruit a schizocarp consisting of 5 mericarps, bases of mericarps 6-8 mm long, tail up to 3.7 cm long.
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