Bulbous, perennial herbs. Leaves several to many, in a basal rosette, smooth, shiny, occasionally with purple spots or stripes. Inflorescence a raceme of many flowers, topped with a coma of green leafy sterile bracts. Fertile bracts smaller than sterile. Flowers greenish (in ours). Perianth segments fused at base; lobes spreading, persistent. Stamens 6; filaments fused below to form a shallow cup. Ovules many. Fruit a 3-angled capsule. Seeds black or brown.