Perennial, strongly tufted; rhizome hard, compact, covered by persistent shiny reddish brown contorted leaf-bases and cataphylls up to 60 mm long; roots fairly thin, soft. Leaves clustered, stiff, linear, up to 500 x 4 mm (less in our area), acuminate above, sometimes mildly twisted. Scapes up to 0,6 m long, wiry, terete or flattened when dry. Spikes ellipsoid, up to 15 X 7 mm, bracts fairly uniform and somewhat gaping at anthesis, shining chestÂnut-brown, convex, mucronate, margin smooth, entire except for an occasional meÂdian split. Lateral sepals folded, curved with thick dark keels bearing a narrow wing more or less densely ciliate, especially above. Ca-lyptriform sepal brownish yellow. Corolla yelÂlow, fading to white, lobes of petals denticuÂlate. Style with 3 capitate stigmas. Capsule narrowly ovoid, 2-3 mm long; seeds ovoid. Fig. 1:1.
