Pseudostems 0.5--1.5 m. Leaf sheath pubescent; ligule 2-cleft, to 3 mm; petiole absent to 3 mm; leaf blade narrowly lanceolate, 3--25 × 0.7--3.5 cm, subglabrous except shortly ciliate at margin, base cuneate, apex caudate. Spikes erect, subsessile, 1.5--6 cm; rachis pubescent; involucral bracts ovate to lanceolate, 2.5--9 × 1--1.8 cm, abaxially pubescent, apex acute, aristate, rarely caudate; bracts very small. Proximal flowers paired on rachis, distal ones solitary; pedicel less than 1 mm, glabrous. Calyx pale purple-red, 0.9--1.1 cm, shallowly split on 1 side, abaxially densely pubescent, apex 3-toothed. Corolla abaxially pubescent; tube ca. 1.2 cm; lobes pale yellow, oblong, hoodlike, ca. 7 × 4--5 mm. Lateral staminodes ca. 3 mm, hairy. Labellum white with red stripes, obovate-oblong, ca. 9 × 6 mm, base hairy, apex 2-lobed. Stamen 1--1.2 cm; connective appendage absent. Ovary glabrous. Capsule ovoid to ellipsoid, 1--1.5 cm × 5--9 mm. Fl. Apr--May, fr. Nov--Dec. 2 n = 48*.

* Forests in valleys; 1300--1400 m. Guangxi, Guizhou.