plant probably 2 m tall or more. leaves 35 cm long; sheath broadly ovate, 4 cm long, denticulate toward apex, pale-brown, lustrous; blade narrowly triangular, 2 cm wide, laxly serrate with uncinate spines 5 mm long, glabrous above, densely pale-appressed-lepidote beneath. inflorescence: peduncle slender, glabrous; upper peduncle-bracts ovate, acuminate, shorter than the internodes; fertile part laxly pyramidal, 55 cm long, minutely pale lepidote; primary bracts like the peduncle-bracts, 25 mm long; branches much divided, up to 16 cm long, compressed near the base; racemes densely spiciform or lax near the base; floral bracts broadly ovate, acuminate, slightly shorter than the sepals, deep-rose with a broad scarious margin. flowers spreading; pedicel very short, obconic; sepals elliptic, acute, 6 mm long, 1–5-nerved, deep-rose with a broad scarious margin; petals elliptic, obtuse, 9 mm long, connate for 3 mm. stamens included, very unequal. pistil: ovary more than half superior.Edited from : Smith & Downs 1974. Pitcairnioideae (Bromeliaceae) in Flora Neotropica.