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General:
Perennial herb from an egg-shaped to nearly globe-shaped, scaly bulb, the outer scales brownish to grey, with a wavy, fibrous network, the inner scales red or white; flowering stems erect, 10-40 cm tall, slender, round in cross-section, smooth.
Leaves:
Basal leaves 2 to 4, withering early, linear, channeled to cylindric, shorter than the flowering stem, very slender, smooth, the margins entire; stem leaves lacking.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a compact, often head-like, terminal umbel of several to many, stalked flowers, above 2 to 3 membranous, egg-shaped bracts, the stalks 0.5-1.5 cm long; flowers white to pink, saucer-shaped, of 6 distinct tepals, the tepals 5-9 mm long, lanceolate with pointed tips, spreading, in fruit becoming papery and folding over the ovaries; stamens 6, nearly as long as the tepals; pistil 1, 3-chambered.
Fruits:
Capsules, more or less egg-shaped, 3-lobed, with 6 low, rounded crests; seeds 6 or fewer, black.
Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
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