plant stemless, to short stemmed, flowering to 3 m high (fig; 10, left). leaves numerous, to 80 cm high and forming a to 80 cm wide rosette; sheath indistinct, thin, to 10 cm long and 4 cm wide; blade narrow-linear, long acuminate, to 60 cm long, 1,5–2 cm wide, green, at the base red striped, in shade indistinctly hieroglyphically marked. inflorescence: peduncle to1,5 m long, at the base 1 cm thick, densely covered by subfoliate peduncle bracts; peduncle bracts with long, reddish striped sheath; fertile part laxly twice-branched, to 1 m long and 50 cm wide, in outline wide-pyramidal with numerous, spirally arranged, to 30 cm long primary side branches (fig; 10, right); inflorescence* axis thin, round, glabrous, reddish brown; primary bracts narrow-triangular, acuminate, reddish, glabrous, about ½ as long as the primary side-branch; primary side branch spreading horizontal to bent over, 10–30 cm long, at the base with 1–3 spirally arranged strile bracts; spikes to 7 cm long, at anthesis to 2 cm wide, with 6–8 laxly distichous, diverging flowers; rachis thin, flattened angular, slightly flexuous, reddish, glabrous; floral bracts long lanceolate, acuminate, 15–20 mm long, ecarinate, smooth when fresh, nerved when dry, reddish with yellow tip, upper side scattered brown lepidote, longer than the sepals. flowers: sepals to 12 mm long, long lanceolate, acuminate, the adaxial pair indistinctly carinate, free, smooth, nerved at the tips, yellow, upper side scattered brown lepidote; petals seems like yellow. fruits slim-cylindrical, 2,5 cm long, 3 mm thick; seeds with coma of brown hairs.Edited from : Rauh 1984b. (protologue) Bromelienstudien (Mitteilung 15). I. Neue und wenig bekannte Arten aus Peru und anderen Ländern .