; 0 stem prostrate, twisted, 20 cm in diameter. leaves rosulate, to 1.8 m long, blades linear, caudate-acuminate, to 2 cm wide, glabrous, laxly serrate toward the base with dark curved spines 3 mm long, minutely serrulate elsewhere. inflorescence: peduncle stout, floccose; peduncle bracts subfoliaceous; fertile part amply paniculate; primary bracts much shorter than the branches, narrowly triangular, serrulate; branches slender, flocculose; ultimate racemes over 20 cm long, subdense; floral bracts broadly ovate, long-caudate, barely exceeding the base of the sepals. flowers spreading to reflexed, subsessile; sepals free, ovate, cucullate, 4 mm long, densely lepidote; petals subunguiculate, obtuse, 5–6 mm long. stamens free, included. pistil: ovary stout, 2/3 superior, style about equaling the petals. fruits: seeds few, caudate-appendaged at either end.Edited from : Smith & Downs 1974. Pitcairnioideae (Bromeliaceae) in Flora Neotropica.