Erect, stately, terrestrial herbs. Pseudobulbs stout, fleshy, broadly ovoid, subconic or subcylindric, 4-12 cm. long and 4-8 cm. wide, the bases enveloped in several closely imbricating papery bracts, the upper 1-2 of which are foliaceous, the apex of the pseudobulb with 3-5 broadly lanceolate, plicate, acuminate, deciduous leaves 3-10 dm. long and 6-12 cm. wide; the old pseudobulbs often wrinkled, the brown, papery, imbricating, unarmed bases of the fallen leaves persistent and enveloping the apex. Inflorescences tall, solitary, erect, unbranched racemes 8-13 dm. long, produced simultaneously beside the new growth at the base of the pseudobulbs and developing concurrently with it, actual flowering being delayed until the pseudobulb has matured but before the leaves have fallen. Flowers 10-15 or more, relatively large and conspicuous, fleshy, subglobose, waxy white, strongly fragrant, opening in succession from the lowest upward, 2-4 on the raceme open at one time, relatively widely spaced, with long (about 4 cm.) pedicels, usually subtended on the scape by several to many of the developing seed capsules; the unopened buds above the flowers progressively more crowded toward the apex of the scape. Sepals subequal, fleshy, waxy white, broadly concave, the dorsal sepal free, ovate, obtuse, 2.5-3 cm. long and 2-2.5 cm. broad, laterals somewhat connate at the base, ovate or suborbicular, shortly acute, 2.5-3 cm. long and 2.5-3 cm. wide. Petals elliptic-obovate, obtuse, 20-25 mm. long and 15-18 mm. wide. Lip very fleshy, the claw or hypochile broad, continuous with the base of the column, the lateral margins with ascending wings which are white, heavily spotted rose-red, the inner basal surface thickened into a fleshy lobule; apical lobe of the lip, or epichile, white, articulated with the frontal margin of the hypochile, entire, subquadrate, retuse, nearly truncate, with a central glabrous, fleshy, pure white, ventricose or suborbicular crest. Column short, pure white, subconic, semiterete, 9-11 mm. long. Anther pure white, beaked, superficially resembling the head of a bird.
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