Species of Nerine are herbaceous perennial bulbous flowering plants. In the case of deciduous species, the inflorescence may appear on naked stems before the leaves develop (hysteranthy), otherwise they appear together with the flowers (synanthy) or afterwards.^[5][6][7]

The bulbs may have a short neck, but this is absent in other species. The leaves are filiform (threadlike) (as in N. filifolia; Figure 1D) to linear and flat and strap-shaped (as in N. humilis; Figure 2C). Their flowers, which are few, are borne in spherical umbels on a solid leafless stem (scape or peduncle). The stem may be slender or robust, and rarely minutely puberulous (hairy), with two lanceolate (lance shaped) spathe-valves (spathal bracts) surrounding the inflorescence. The pedicels (flower stalks) may be glabrous (hairy) or smooth, a feature used in differentiating species.