Plants to 100 cm. Roots numerous, 1.5-3 mm diam. Stems pseudobulbs, ovoid to subglobose, 2-5 cm diam. Leaves: blade narrowly elliptic to narrowly oblanceolate, 25-75 × 1.5-4 cm, apex acuminate. Inflorescences 39-118 cm; floral bracts ovate-triangular to lanceolate, 1-3 mm, apex acute to acuminate. Flowers 5-22, pink to rosy purple, rarely entirely white; dorsal sepal elliptic-oblanceolate, 30-40 × 6-8 mm, apex acute to acuminate; lateral sepals similar but falcate; petals erect, oblong-elliptic, 30-35 × 5-6 mm, thinner than sepals, apex obtuse; lip adnate to base of column, clawed, 3-lobed, 30-35 × 27-31 mm, middle lobe subquadrangular, flabellate, emarginate, margins crispate-undulate, lateral lobes erect, flanking column, rounded to subquadrangular, broadest distally; disc lamellae 5, middle 3 white; column clavate, 23-25 mm, column foot absent; pedicellate ovary slender, 20-35 mm. Capsules pendulous, 3-4.5 cm × 8-10 mm.

Flowering Mar--May. Pinelands; 0--20 m; Fla.; Mexico; West Indies; Central America; South America.

Bletia patula was originally collected from Miami-Dade County, Florida, in 1947. The locality has since become part of the greater Miami area (C. A. Luer 1972), and the persistence of the populations is doubtful.