"romulea tortuosa" is a very low perennial plant of high, that survives the dry southern summer through storage of its resources in an oval corm, which is clad in a brown, rigid tunic. its three to four spreading, firm, awl-shaped basal leaves are coiled like corkscrews, 3¾–5 cm (1½–2 in) long, about 1 mm (0.04 in) in diameter, with three veins. two or three flowers appear almost without a stem from the base of the leaves. each flower is subtended by two green lanceolate non-coiling bracts of 1¼ cm (½ in) long. the bright yellow perianth, that consists of six tepals, which are merged near their base, forms a short tube at its base, and a cup of 1¼ cm (½ in) high, with egg-shaped lobes. the anthers are in the upper half of the cup and narrowly arrow-shaped. the typical subspecies ("r. tortuosa" subsp. "tortuosa") has brown blotches near the bottom of the flower cup, which are absent in "r. tortuosa" subsp. "aurea". the opened flower smells like the "narcissus" blossom.