Perennial, to 8.5 dm tall from slender ovoid bulbs; basal leaves linear, to 35 cm long; stem leaves fewer and smaller; flowering stem, one per bulb; inflorescence sparsely branched or a single raceme with small leaf-like bracts below each flower that equal or exceed the length of the subtended pedicel; pedicels stout, curved downward when flowering then curved upward in fruit; flowers bell-shaped and nodding; tepals 12-16 mm long, reddish-purple along the margins and blending to yellowish-green at the middle, a greenish-yellow bilobed gland is evident at the interior base of each tepal; ovary partially inferior; capsules erect, 12-15 mm long. Flowers late July to early September.