2n = 20

An inconspicuous, summer-green, glab. herb 3–8–(10) cm. tall. Corm to 7–(9) × 5–(8) mm., enclosed in persistent papery sheaths, the innermost reddish brown. Stem annual, slender, < lvs. Lvs us. 2 above the membr. prophyll; sheath closed below, then broader and ± pouch-like, narrowing gradually above; lamina 2–9–(12) cm. × 1–2–(8) mm., linear, deeply channelled or folded; tip terete; below fl. a much smaller, ± bract-like lf (occ. 2), us. green but occ. petaloid. Fl. solitary, terminal. Tepals 3–6, c. 4–5 × 1.5–2 mm., oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, all ± similar, white or slightly pink, marcescent; lateral veins forked, a short one on each side ending in a submarginal gland which exudes clear nectar. Stamens as many as tepals, shortly adnate at base; filaments slightly flattened below, narrow and terete above, inserted into a fovea between anther lobes; anthers shortly oblong, dehiscing by lateral slits. Ovary c. 2.5 mm. diam., subglobose, the styles widely divergent and separating with the valves of the ripe capsule; ovules c. 8 on two axile placentae in each locule. Capsule c. 4–6–10 × 2–3–6 mm., oval, sulcate, pericarp at first green and fleshy, becoming horny and faintly transversely rugose, carried up with its small lf on an elongating stem, dehiscing us. both loculicidally and septicidally into 2–6 wide-spreading lobes. Seeds c. 1 mm. diam., globose, minutely reticulate, on long capillary funicle. 2n = 20.