Perennial herb with a thick rootstock up to 2 cm long and 1 cm diam., with an adventitious root system at maturity. Leaves all basal, arranged in a rosette, spreading close to the ground, obovate-spathulate, 3–10.5 cm long, 1.3–4 cm wide, obtuse, pubescent on both surfaces but more densely so on the lower, gloss on the upper surface inconspicuous because of the pubescence, 5(–9)-veined, tapering gradually into an indistinct petiole with a thickened base that is membranous at the margins, the axil villous with a conspicuous tuft of brownish-yellow hairs. Scapes ascending, (6–)10–20(–30) cm tall, pubescent with antrorse-appressed hairs. Spikes compact, narrow-cylindrical, 4–8(–11) cm long in fruiting stage. Bracts concave, ovate-elliptic, obtuse, 1.9–3 mm long, obtusely keeled, glabrous except for the usually + ciliate margin and apex, membranous toward the margin, with a thickened keel c. 3/4 of the width. Sepals elliptic, 1.5–2.5 mm long, 1–2 mm wide, glabrous, keeled, usually tinged with purple, obtuse, membranous except for a keel c. 3/4 of the width. Corolla: tube1.5–2.5 mm long; lobes orbicular to broad ovate, 0.5–1 mm long, with a distinct midvein. Stamens with filaments 2.5–4 mm long; anthers 0.6–1.2 mm long. Style 1.5–3 mm long. Ovary bilocular with 2 ovules in each loculus, the placenta with a swelling on one side towards the apex separating a minute sterile false-loculus. Capsule broad ovoid, 2.5–3.5 mm long, with a blunt mucro at the apex, the upper portion hardened, the lower portion membranous. Seeds brown, narrow-elliptic, 1.2–1.8 mm long, with a superficial hilum and a very thin mucilaginous layer.
Home