Pseudostems 1.5--2 m. Leaves sessile; ligule lanceolate, 2--5 cm, membranous; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, 25--45 × 5--8.5 cm, glabrous, base acute, apex acuminate. Spikes oblong, ca. 10 × 5 cm; bracts imbricate, oblong-ovate, 4--6 × 1.5--3 cm, 3- or 4-flowered; bracteoles ca. 2 cm, tubular. Flowers yellow. Calyx ca. 4 cm, hirsute, split on 1 side. Corolla tube longer than calyx; lobes linear, ca. 3 cm. Lateral staminodes oblanceolate, ca. 3 cm × 8 mm. Labellum yellow, obcordate, wider than long, ca. 4 cm, apex emarginate; claw short. Filament ca. 3 cm; anther 1.2--1.5 cm. Ovary hirsute. Stigma funnelform. Fl. Aug--Sep.

Cultivated as an ornamental and for aromatic oil.

Forests; 900--1200 m. Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan [India, Myanmar, Thailand].