plant flowering to 7 dm high. leaves many in a funnelform rosette, 3–4 dm long, densely appressed-lepidote on both sides; sheath distinct, broadly elliptic, minutely brown-lepidote; blade narrowly triangular, 3 cm wide, recurved toward apex, wholly green, cinereous-lepidote, appearing coriaceous dark grey, sometimes violaceous. inflorescence: peduncle curved; stout; peduncle bracts erect, the lower foliaceous and much imbricated, the upper broadly elliptic, acute or obtuse, equaling or slightly shorter than the internodes; fertile part simple but sometimes 2–5 branched, laxly many-flowered, linear, 30 cm long, 4 cm wide; rachis stout, geniculate; floral bracts suborbicular, obtuse, 2 cm long, much shorter than the sepals, obscurely carinate, fleshy-coriaceous. flowers nocturnal suberect, secund, opening a throat unusually large (27mm), smelling of onion; pedicel obconic, very stout, 5 mm long; sepals broadly elliptic, obtuse-truncate, 22 mm long, 15 mm wide, ecarinate; petals nearly 4 cm long, yellow-green, bearing 2 large acuminate scales.Edited from : Reitz 1975a. (protologue) Encontro e Reencontro de Bromélias - I .