| 1 | PLANT | long caulescent | 2 |
| | stemless or the stem shorter than the | 5 |
| | leaves | |
| 2 | BLADES | densely tomentose, covered with long | 3 |
| | eccentric scales | |
| | stiff, appearing smooth because of the | 4 |
| | densely appressed scales, inflo. Densely | |
| | ellipsoid, ca. as long as the leaves | |
| 3 | LEAVES | 12-20 mm long, sub-rectangularly spreading, | stellifera |
| | inflo simple, subsessile, few flowered | |
| | 12-25cm long, erect to recurved, inflo digitate | tectorum |
| | with sone erect to spreading spikes, much | var. tectorum |
| | longer than the leaves | |
| 4 | LEAVES | 1.5-6 cm long, lower part of leaves densely | heteromorpha |
| | pressed to stem, blades mostly recurved | var. heteromorpha |
| | Ancash, Peru | |
| | (2-) 6-12 cm long, sheaths ca spreading, | heteromorpha |
| | Cajamarca, Peru | var. rauhii |
| 5 | LEAVES | appressed lepidote, involute-subulate, erect | lithophila |
| | or recurved, inflo much longer than the leaves | |
| | subdensely composed from a few erect spikes | |
| | or simple | |
| | densely covered with narrow eccentric scales | 6 |
| 6 | INFLORESCENCE | simple, rarely a second spike | 7 |
| | compound | 9 |
| 7 | BLADES | spreading | 8 |
| | imbricate, forming a narrow conical tapering | tomekii |
| | rosette, inflo shorter than the leaves, rarely | |
| | digitate with a second spike | |
| 8 | BLADES | to 8cm long, spreading lepidote, inflo longer | balsasensis |
| | than the leaves, scape slender, glabrous, | |
| | spikes to 4cm long and to 10 flowered | |
| | to 5cm long, appressed lepidote, inflo shorter | chusgonensis |
| | than the leaves, scape to 3cm long, densely | |
| | spreading lepidote, spike 2cm long, to | |
| | 4 flowered, floral bracts lepidote | |
| 9 | INFLORESCENCE | digitate, with some spreading linear-lanceolate | 10 |
| | spikes spikes many flowered, much longer | |
| | than the primary bracts | |
| | dense, spikes erect and enfolded by their | alyi |
| | primary bracts. Floral bracts glabrous, longer | |
| | than the sepals | |
| 10 | PLANT | Flowering 30-50cm high, leaves 15-20cm long, | tectorum |
| | spikes to 8cm long, , linear-lanceolate many | fa. gigantea |
| | flowered, strongly complanate, primary bracts | |
| | not longer than the lowest sterile part of the | |
| | spikes to 8cm long, , linear-lanceolate many | |
| | Flowering not over 25cm high, spikes to 3cm | 11 |
| | long | |
| 11 | LEAVES | Spreading, rosette globose, spikes not smaller | 12 |
| | than 8mm, rounded complanate, floral bracts | |
| | spreading lepidote | |
| | Erect, somewhat recurved, rosette inverted | oblivata |
| | cone shaped, spikes complanate, to | |
| | 2.5cm long, not more than 7mm wide, style | |
| | exceeding the tips of the petals | |
| 12 | LEAVES | Densely white lepidote(like fine needles), | tectorum |
| | primary bracts apiculate, half the length of the | var globosa |
| | spikes | |
| | Subdense lepidote from scales as fine as a | tectorum |
| | hair, leaves filiform and greenish, the lower | var. viridula |
| | primary bracts filiform-attenuate and mostly | |
| | as long as the tips of the spikes or longer | |
( I) PETAL - BICOLORED