plant flowering to ca 50 cm high, stoloniferous, leaves ca 15, ligulate, ca 50 cm long, suberect, forming a funnel shaped utriculum at the base. leaves: sheath elliptic, 8–12 cm long, 5–7 cm wide, both sides dense brown lepidote, inside lighter brown; blade 22–42 cm long, sublinear, narrow towards the base, channelled, maximum width 35mm, green, above subglabrous, below inconspicuous white lepidote, masgins remotely spined, tip long acute or obtuse apiculate, peduncle ca 8–11 cm long, 5 mm diam; when living, dense brown wool, hidden by the sheaths of the leaves; peduncle bracts bottom ones foliaceous, upper ones oblong, 35 mm long, remotely spined, tip obtuse apiculate, both sides brown lepidote, inflorescence subglobose 30–40 mm long, 35–45 mm wide, emerging between the leaves an inmost nest a little above the sheaths of the leaves, branches ca 5, the lower ones conspicuously pedunculate, elliptic, fan shaped, 2or 3 branched, compound, primary bracts ovate, 35–40 mm long, except for the spine 12–15 mm long, subpungent, green, edges remotely spined, both sides brown wool, floral bracts ovate or suboblong, ca 25 mm long, with subpungent spines 7 mm long, green, keeled, edges remotely spined, outside brown wool, inside glsbrous, equalling the height of the sepals or a little exceeding, flowers ca 35 mm long, sessile, sepals 15 mm long, 2–3 mm connate, with an asymmetric wide wing, tip long spined, outside woolly, adaxial pair keeled and decurrent with the ovary. flowers: petals 25 mm long, at the base connate in a tube to 11mm, white, blades lanceolate acuminate, at anthesis subspreading at first violet later red, with 2 callosities. stamens included, filaments complanate, narrowing towards the tip, series ii, high adnate to the tube, anthers linear, 6 mm long, tip mucronate, base sagittate, ddorsifixed above the base, pollen grains elliptic biporate, ovary trigonus, 10 mm long, glabrous, epigynous tube 4 mm long, placenta joined near the tip of the loculus, ovules many, apiculate.Translated by Butcher from: Bradea. .