Plants 0.6-1 m. Rhizomes just below ground level, horizontal, flesh usually orange. Stems usually 3-5-branched. Leaves 8-14 per stem; blade narrowly lanceolate, 1/2 to ± equaling stem, 10-20 mm wide, glaucous. Rhipidia usually 3-6-flowered; spathes ± equal, 10-20 mm. Tepals ascending proximally, ± spreading distally, light orange to reddish (rarely yellow), with large, irregularly scattered spots of darker pigment, lanceolate, 16-35 mm; filaments (6-)10-12 mm; anthers 6-8 mm; ovary narrowly ovoid-3-angled, (4-)6-8 mm; style 3-angled proximally, thickened in distal 1/2, dividing opposite anther apices, branches ca. 2 mm. Capsules ovoid, 18-26 mm, apex truncate. Seeds persisting on placentas after capsule dehiscence, black, ca. 4 mm diam., shiny. Flowering Jun--Aug. Grassland, pastures, woodland clearings, disturbed limestone glades, rocky outcrops; introduced; Ala., Ark., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Md., Mich., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Va., W.Va.; w Asia.