Perennial tuberous herb; stem erect, leafy; rootstock stout, horizontal, fleshy, jointed; leaves sessile, distichous, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate at apex, attenuate at base, glabrous above, more or less pubescent beneath, ligule membranous; flowers pure white or tinged with yellow, fragrant, in dense, oblong spikes, bracts large, oblong, subcoriaceous, imbricate, each subtending 3-4 flowers, at first green, turns brown with age; calyx tubular or cylindric, 3-dentate, shorter than bracts; corolla tube long, slender, longer than bracts, white, segments linear, half as long as the tube, equal, spreading; labellum white with yellow tinge; staminodes white, oblong-lanceolate, narrowed suddenly to a sharp claw, fertile, stamen-1, filament long, slender, anther cells contiguous, connective not produced; ovary 3-celled, ovules many, superposed, style long, filiform, stigma subglobose; capsules oblong, glabrous, 3-valved, orange inside; seeds with a crimson aril.