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Plants 50-100(-200) mm high. Corm ovoid, 8-20 mm diam., obliquely pointed with small basal ridge, tunics woody or cartilaginous, split into fine teeth below, often extending upward in a fibrous neck. Stem short, subterranean. Leaves (1)2 to 4(6), all basal, subterete, narrowly 4-grooved, 1-2 mm diam. Peduncles up to 4, subterete, erect in fruit; outer bracts green or greenish with narrow, colourless membranous margins, 10-20 mm long, closely ribbed (± 8 veins/mm) or rarely softer basally, inner bracts similar or with wider colourless margins basally. Flowers magenta to white with yellow or greenish cup, outer tepals pink or green with or without purple feathering on reverse; perianth tube funnel-shaped, 4-8 mm long; tepals oblanceolate to elliptic, (9-)12-20(-35) x 4-8 mm. Filaments inserted in lower half of tube, shortly exserted from cup, 4-10 mm long, puberulous or pilose basally; anthers 3-7 mm long, yellow or with purplish lines. Style dividing below or up to 4 mm beyond anther apices, branches 1-2 mm long, shortly divided. Capsules ovoid-oblong, 7-10 mm long.
Plants 100-550 mm long. Leaves 80-550 x 0.8-2.0 mm. Bracts green, with narrow, colourless, membranous margins. Flowers 15-35 mm long, with a yellow or greenish yellow cup, outer segments magenta or greenish on the backs, sometimes striped with 3-5 purplish lines. Perianth segments 9-25 x 4-8 mm. Anthers usually reaching more than halfway up the perianth. Style to 17 mm long; stigmas below, at, or above the anther tips.
Perennial herb, geophyte, 0.10-0.25 m high; corm obliquely pointed with narrow basal ridge; stem subterranean. Leaves 1-6, basal, filiform, narrowly 4-grooved. Bracts greenish, margins colourless, membranous. Flowers magenta or pink to white; cups yellow; tepals 12-25 mm long, elliptic. Stamens inserted; filaments 4-7 mm long; anthers 3-7 mm long. Flowering time Jan.-May. Capsule on erect peduncles.
Geophyte, up to 120 mm tall, excluding leaves. Leaves terete, or oval in transverse section, with 4 longitudinal grooves, all inserted below ground. Inflorescences with flowers solitary on aerial axes. Perianth tube shorter than tepals. Flowers lilac to violet, white to yellow in centre, tepals darkly veined.
Cormous geophyte, up to 250 mm high. Leaves terete, with 4 wings, X-shaped in transverse section, all inserted below ground. Flowers: solitary on aerial axes; perianth 15-35 mm long, tube shorter than segments, segments lilac to violet, yellow to greenish yellow in centre, darkly veined; Dec.-Mar.
Large plants with larger organs: Leaves 1-2 mm in diam. Flowers 25-35 mm long, with a bright yellow cup. Perianth segments 6-8 mm wide. Stamens reaching just above the middle of the perianth; anthers 5-7 mm long. Style 15-17 mm; stigmas mostly overtopping the anthers.
Flowers lilac to violet, white to yellow in the centre, the tepals darkly veined; perianth tube 7–8 mm long; tepals subequal, 12–20 mm long, lanceolate, erect in the lower part and curving outwards above.
Flowers solitary per stem; floral bracts green, striate, 12–18 mm long, the margins especially of the inner sometimes membranous and pale, the inner as long as or slightly shorter than the outer.
Stamens free; filaments 4–5 mm long, erect, exserted c. 1 mm from the wide part of the perianth tube; anthers c. 5 mm long.
Corms 8–15 mm in diameter, globose, tapering to a sharp point below; tunics red-brown, woody or cartilaginous.
Style dividing opposite the middle to upper half of the anthers, the branches c. 1 mm long.
Foliage leaves 1–4, straight or curved, 1–1.5 mm in diameter, filiform.
Slender herb with fine leaves up to 1 ft. high
Plants 7–12 cm high excluding the leaves.
Stems 1–4 per plant, more or less erect.
Flowers white with blue margins.
Capsules 7–10 mm long.
