plant terrestrial herb, rosette, caespitose, flowering of to 1.3 m high; stem short, inconspicuous. leaves numerous, fleshy; sheath yellow to brown, ovate, glabrous in the basal part, lepidote in the upper part (both sides), 2.2 - 7.1 cm long, 1.5 - 8.9 cm wide, serrated; blade green, curved, narrow triangular, attenuate, constricted at the base, lepidote on the back, sparsely lepidote on the face, 9.2 - 50.9 cm long, 0.36 - 0.87 cm wide, pungent at the apex, spiny on the margins, spines erect to curved, 1.4 –7.8 mm long, 0.47 - 1.7 cm apart. inflorescence terminal, erect, once-branched; staminate inflorescence 19–83.2 cm high, with up to 38 primary branches; rachis densely lepidote, cylindrical, scarcely geniculate; internodes of the inflorescence 1.5 - 4.3 cm of long; peduncle erect, cylindrical, lepidote, 14.7 - 50.5 cm long, 0.3 - 1.1 cm diam, peduncle internodes 1.5 - 3.6 cm long; peduncle bracts lower ones foliaceous, caudate, sparsely lepidote, serrate, 3.7 - 12.8 cm long, upper ones triangular, sparsely lepidote, erose; primary bracts ovate, lepidote, serrate, 1.8 - 5.4 cm long; primary branches ascending, cylindrical to subcapitate, one per node, 1.1 - 6.9 cm long, rachis lepidote; secondary branches inconspicuous or absent. flowers actinomorphic, numerous for branch, densely disposed, 3 - 6.3 (6.9) mm long; pedicel absent or inconspicuous; floral bracts brown, wide ovate, lepidote, erose, 3.8 - 7.3 mm long, 2.2 - 5.1 mm wide in the basal part, 1.7 - 6 mm in the middle; sepals brown, ovate, glabrous, entire, 3 –4.6 mm long, 1.2–4.5 mm wide in the basal part, 1.6 –3.2 mm in the middle; petals yellowish green, oblong to elliptic, glabrous, entire, 2.5 - 5.7 mm long, 1.1 - 3.4 mm wide in the basal part, 1.6 - 4 mm in the middle. stamens equal, longer than the petals, filaments 0.8 - 4.4 mm long, triangular, yellow, anthers oblong, 0.9 - 2.8 mm long. pistil: ovary vestigial; ; pistillate inflorescence 17 .5 - 63.9 cm high, with up to 38 primary branches; rachis densely lepidote, cylindrical, scarcely geniculate; internodes of the inflorescence 1.6 - 4 cm long; peduncle erect, cylindrical, lepidote, 18 - 73.5 cm long, 0.47 - 1.2 cm diam, internodes of the peduncle 2.4 - 4.8 cm long; peduncle bracts lower ones foliaceous, caudate, sparsely lepidote, serrate, 4.2 - 14.5 cm long, the upper ones triangular; primary bracts ovate, lepidote, serrate, 1.4 - 2.6 cm long; primary branches ascending, cylindrical to subcapitate, one per node, 1.2 2.8 cm long, rachis lepidote; secondary branches very short, 0.7 - 1 .5 cm long. flowers actinomorphic, numerous per branch, densely disposed, 6.6 (8 9) mm long; pedicel absent or inconspicuous; floral bracts brown, wide ovate, lepidote, erose, 4.3 - 7.9 mm long, 2.1 - 4.9 mm wide in the basal part, 1.5 - 4.8 mm wide in the middle; sepals brown, ovate, glabrous, entire, 2.7 - 5.1 mm long, 2.1 - 4.4 mm wide in the basal part, 1 .2 - 3.1 mm in the middle; petals yellowish green, triangular, glabrous, entire, 3.5 - 5.1 mm long, 1.6 - 3.8 mm wide in the basal part, 1 .2 - 3 mm in the middle; staminodes 6, laminar, triangular, without anthers; ovary ovoid, 6–7 mm long, 2.1 - 2.5 mm diam. fruits brown, ovoid, 0.65 - 1 cm long, 3 - 8 mm diam; seeds 2.2 - 3.6 mm long, with a wing that surrounds the whole seed.Translated by Butcher from: Correa 2008. Sistemática del complejo de especies de Hechtia podantha Mez (Pitcairnioideae, Bromeliaceae) .