Herbs 15-100 cm tall, sprouting from the lower leaves; rhizomes bright red to orange-red inside, roots fibrous. Leaves 10-60 x 0.2-2.5 cm, glabrous. Inflorescence a thyrse, 2-35 cm long and 1-9 cm wide; number of cataphylls 0-14, 1-6.5 x 0.1-0.6 cm; primary bracts (narrowly) ovate, 0.3-1.5(-3) cm long; floral bracts ovate, 0.1-0.6 cm long; pedicels 1-7 mm long; cataphylls, rachis, bracts, pedicels, and outer side of tepals densely to sparsely covered with simple hairs (0.3-0.8 mm long), ovary, capsule, and inner side of tepals glabrous. Flowers orange, yellowish, and white, often outer side of outer tepals green, rachis and pedicels often also orange to cream coloured, tepals narrowly ovate-elliptic, 5-12 x 1-3 mm; stamens with creamy white filaments and yellow anthers, abaxial stamen 4-7 mm long, the 2 adaxial ones 2-4 mm long, staminodes 2, linear, 2-5 mm long; ovary green, style orange, 2-6 mm long. Capsule green, maturing orange to shiny dark purple, globose in outline to 3-lobate in cross-section, 3-6 mm long, 4-8 mm in diam., margins of valves prominent, style and perianth persistent; seeds orange to brown, globose to depressed globose, tuberculate, 1.5-2 mm in diam.
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