Rhizomatous herb, stemless or short-stemmed to 1 m tall. Leaves in rossete, fleshy, elliptic to ovate, 17-55 cm long. Inflorescence to c. 0.5 m long; flowers clustered at end of stalk, subtended by 4 leafy inflorescence bracts and filiform or whisker-like bracts, black in colour. Fruits when ripening, pushed to the ground fleshy, c. 4 cm long with numerous seeds.