2n = 40

2n = 40

Plant at fl. to 100 cm. long, us. very much less. Stem erect if short, drooping if long, completely clad in sheathing lf-bases. Lf-sheaths mostly 3–4 mm. diam., little flattened, each overlapping at least half of the one above, deeply split with free edges dark, otherwise mostly pale; lamina 4–12 cm. × 5–8 mm., widest near base, broad almost to subacute tip, long persistent. Rhizome thickly covered with sheathing scale lvs or their fibrous remains. Panicle c. 5–10 cm. long, us. erect; racemes ∞, arranged distichously at short intervals up stiff central axis, each lateral stem to c. 10 mm. long with a few crowded empty bracts and 1–3 almost sessile fls. Per. c. 13 mm. diam., opening widely, waxy white. Sepals elliptic, slightly keeled, subacute. Petals slightly broader and more obtuse. Labellum broad and obtuse, white except for yellow base, standing erect and half enclosing column, transversely rhomboid, not lobed; distal margins slightly thickened and recurved; near base 2 short crescent-shaped ridges lead down to small, brightly coloured pit (nectary?). Column much shorter, broadest at base, wings projecting in small lobes about level of stigma; pollinia clavate.