rhizome short-creeping, cylindrical, sending out dense tufts of wiry root-fibres; leaves in a dense, basal, distichous rosette, surrounded by bristles, linear, rigid in texture, glabrous, closely-ribbed, 3–6 in. long; stems 1/2–1 ft. long, bearing only 1–2 rudimentary leaves; clusters terminal, single or few, arranged in a lax corymb, 2–3-flowered; outer spathe-valves lanceolate, acute, green, with a hyaline edge; pedicels 1/2–1 in. long; perianth fugitive, twisting up spirally, blue, inner segments entirely blue, 1–1 1/4 in. long, outer black, with a pale claw, not more than half as long as the inner; style 1/2 in. long, overtopping the stamens; capsule 1 1/2–2 in. long. null
