leaves ensiform, rigid, a foot long, ¾ –1 in; broad low down, tapering gradually to the point, green and glabrous on the face, armed with large hooked spreading spines. inflorescence: peduncle under a foot long; bract-leaves ovate, scariose; fertile part a deltoid panicle a foot long, with dense oblong racemose branches; floral bracts broad-ovate, acute, scariose, an inch long. flowers: pedicel stout, ¼ - 1/3 in; sepals lanceolate, ½ - ¾ in; long; petals shortly protruded, much twisted after flowering. fruits subglobose, shorter than the calyx, with 3 brown septicidal valves split clown the back.Edited from : Baker 1889. (protologue) Handbook of the Bromeliaceae .