Perennial herb up to 1 m high.  Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 13-28 cm long. Bracts ovate to orbicular, 2.5 to 3.5 cm in length, obtuse, green with pale edges; pubescent margin; corolla white, tube thin, 2.5 cm in length; lobes acuminate.  Fruit ellipsoid, 2.5 cm.

Herb 30-100 cm high, with robust, branched, rhizome near the surface of the soil. Leaves, 5-25 x 1-3 cm, linear-lanceolate, sessile, with acute apex and cuneate base, glabrous; inflorescence cylindrical, spikes 4-7 x 1.5-2.5 cm, corolla yellowish-green; flower produced in the axil of yellowish bracts; fruit a three-valved capsule with small black arillate seeds.