leaves about a dozen in a dense rosette, lanceolate-acuminate from an ovate base 2 in; broad, 1˝ ft; long, an inch broad low down, mode¬rately firm in texture, subglabrous. inflorescence: peduncle ˝ ft; long; bract leaves crowded, with long erect free points; fertile part a dense oblong multifarious panicle 5–6 in; long; branch-bracts ovate, with reflexing tip bright red, much imbricated, the lower 3–4 in; long; spikes dense, few-flowered, distichous, quite hidden by the bracts; floral bracts ovate, acute, 1˝ in; long. flowers: calyx 1˝ in; long; sepals acute; petal-blade small, violet.Edited from : Baker 1889. Handbook of the Bromeliaceae .