General: Perennial herb from tubers, 1-2.5 cm long, with a few fibrous roots; stems 20-55 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal 2 or 3 (4), linear to mostly oblanceolate, 10-18 cm long, 2-3.5 cm wide, dull to glossy green below, glossier above, withering before or during flowering; stem leaves bractlike, mostly 3 or 4 (2-10).
Flowers: Inflorescence terminal, spikelike, 7-30 cm long, usually densely-flowered, the flowers small, white, sometimes with green, faintly and unpleasantly scented; sepals 2-3.5 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, 1-veined, the upper sepal more or less pointed forward, white with a green midvein or green with white margins, the lower ones white with a faint green midvein, usually greenish early in flowering; petals 2-4 mm long, white with a green midvein, more or less pointed forward, the tips overlapping or nearly touching; lip 2-3 mm long, white, sometimes green at tip, narrowly triangular, bent back toward spur; spur 2-3.5 mm long, pointed downward; column shorter than lip.
Fruits: Capsules, ascending to erect, 5-9 mm long; seeds cinnamon brown.
If more than one illustration is
available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two
subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below.
Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
