Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Perennial herbs, sometimes growing in dense clumps, 50–200 cm.

Stems: Corms tunicate, depressed-globose, 30–45 mm diam., tunic fibrous, fibers coarse, reticulate. Stems simple or 1–2-branched, often with large cormlets in proximal axils, occasionally also in distal axils of stem, spike.

Roots: Roots fibrous.

Leaves: Leaves simple. 4–6, basal leaves 3–4. Blades lanceolate, 12–35 mm wide; cauline leaves smaller than basal. Apex acute. Margins and midribs hyaline, heavily thickened. Veins parallel. Blades sheathing. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Spikes 8–12(–25)-flowered; spathes often flushed with red, outer 18–30 mm, dry in distal 3–5 mm, inner slightly longer to slightly shorter than outer. Flowers perfect, short-lived, odorless or rarely fragrant, zygomorphic or rarely actinomorphic, distichous. Tepals orange, red, or purple, lanceolate, outer slightly narrower than inner, 22–27 × 8–15 mm; perianth tube proximally slender, 18–25 mm wide, abruptly expanded distally, 20–25 mm wide. Filaments 35–45 mm; anthers 8–12 mm. Ovary inferior oblong, 3–4 mm; style branching opposite middle of anthers, branches 6–7 mm.

Fruit: Capsules 22–30 mm. Seeds light brown; prominently winged distally; weakly or not winged proximally; 10–18 mm.

Ploidy: 2n = 18

Habitat:

Elevation Range: