Plants 7–15 dm; main roots fleshy. Leaf blade yellowish green, 7–10 dm × (1–)2.5–3 cm. Scape branched, 10–20-flowered, taller than foliage. Leaves are long, grass-like, and bright green in color. Flowers are large, showy, and orange in color and may have spots or stripes.

Diuretic, febrifuge, laxative; anodyne, antiemetic, antispasmodic, depurative, febrifuge and sedative (flowers); tuberculostatic (rhizome); antidote (root juice); diuretic (a tea from root).

Plants for a Future

As a blood purifier (flowers); against the parasitic worms that cause filariasis, to treat oppilation, jaundice, constipation and pneumonia (rhizome); for cancer (root).