Tritoniopsis williamsiana Goldblatt

Plants 400-800 mm high. Corm 12-20 mm diam.; tunics of soft, fine fibres or papery, without a collar. Stem flexed outward at ground level then erect, unbranched or rarely with one short branch, 3-4 mm diam. Basal leaves 3 or 4, green at flowering, reaching less than halfway to base of spike, blade linear-lanceolate, 120-250 x 5-8 mm, acute or acuminate, narrowed and subpetiolate below, with 2 or 3 veins; cauline leaves 2 or 3, lower 1 or 2 like basal but smaller, upper 1 or 2 scale-like. Spike moderately densely ± 12-to 20(40)-flowered, 120-200(-300) mm long; bracts dark brown, dry and leathery, lanceolate, outer 12-15 mm long, acute or acuminate, inner slightly longer. Flowers red, lower 3 tepals darker in midline, unscented; perianth tube dimorphic, sharply bent, 24-28 mm long, slender in lower 12-15 mm, widening obliquely at bend into cylindric upper part ± 12 mm long; tepals unequal, dorsal tepal largest, horizontal at first later reflexed, oblanceolate, ± 20 x 6 mm, obtuse, other tepals spreading but later reflexed, oblanceolate-elliptic, obtuse or acute, upper lateral tepals 13-15 x 4 mm, adnate to dorsal tepal for ± 2 mm, lower 3 tepals joined for ± 2 mm, subequal or lower slightly shorter, 15-18 x 4 mm. Filaments inserted obliquely at base of upper part of tube, arcuate, later diverging, ± 28 mm long; anthers 6 mm long, purple or red, with bifid apiculus 1 mm long. Style 40-45 mm long, dividing opposite lower half of anthers, branches 2 mm long, sometimes bifid. Capsules obovoid, slightly inflated, 7-10 x 6-9 mm, rugose-verrucose. Seeds ± 5 mm long, winged at opposite ends. Chromosome number 2n = ± 32 (or 30).