plant epiphytic, acaulescent, 117–120 cm tall at anthesis. leaves 25–30 in number, 79–110 cm long forming a rosette 90–120 cm wide; sheath ovate, merging into the blades, 17–20 cm long, 10.5–11.5 cm wide, greenish brown (brown when dried), densely punctulate-lepidote, the scales gray on the edges and brown at the center (on dried specimens ); blade lingulate to oblanceolate, arching, acuminate, 62–90 cm long, 3.5–5.5 cm wide at base, 5–10 cm wide at middle, coriaceous, thick, punctulate-lepidote, entire, dark green, without contrasting venation or other coloration. inflorescence: peduncle erect, robust, 55 cm tall, 15–18 mm in diameter at base, hollow between nodes, dark green; peduncle bracts acuminate, erect, clasping the stem, the lower ones overlapping and covering the peduncle, the upper ones although longer than the internodes exposing the peduncle, light green; fertile part erect, 65 cm tall, cylindric, densely twice-branched with 15–18 primary branches; primary bracts erect, acuminate, clasping the peduncle, 2.5–5.5 cm long, 4.5 cm wide at base, blades densely appressed lepidote, light green; primary branches complanate, distichous, each 12–14 cm long, 1.8–2.2 cm wide, with 11–18 flowers, digitate with 2 secondary branches; secondary branches 6–8 cm long, with 11–15 flowers. flowers sessile, trigonal; floral bracts erect, slightly cucullate, densely imbricate, glabrescent, with some scales at apex, 19–20 mm long and exceeding the sepals, elliptical in outline when pressed otherwise 3-sided, trigonal, the dorsal surface triangular in outline and 5 mm wide at base, the two lateral surfaces 4.5–5 mm wide at their middle, bicarinate and navicular, holding the floral parts in a neatly bound trigonal envelope, orange at anthesis; sepals lanceolate in outline when pressed otherwise bifacial, 17–18 mm long, 4 mm wide at base, 5–5.5 mm wide at the middle, convolute-imbricate, free, minutely punctulate-lepidote, adaxial pair carinate forming 45 degree angles, apex obtuse-apiculate, keel fleshy at the base; abaxial sepal ecarinate, apex acute; petals narrowly oblong and apically obtuse, 24–26 mm long, 4 mm wide at base, minutely lepidote, appendaged; adaxial pair angled, 4/5 involute from base and hyaline, the upper 1/5 recurved and light bluish gray; the abaxial rounded and involute from base to apex with same color pattern as in the adaxial pair; appendages basal, oblong, two per petal, 6–8 mm long, 1–1.2 mm wide, apically 2.1–2.3 mm free and irregularly notched. stamens included, in two series of three each, 21–23 mm long, exceeding the pistil; filament free, 15–16 mm long, 0.75 mm wide, hyaline; anther linear-sagittate, 6–7 mm long, 1 mm wide, basally dorsifixed. pistil 18–22 mm long; ovary ovate, superior, 4–6 mm long and 3 mm wide at anthesis, circular in cross-section; style 12–14 mm long; stigma conduplicate-spiral, 2 mm long, 0.75–1.0 mm wide.Edited from : Grant 1992. (protologue) Vriesea lutheriana, a New Species with Tripinnate Inflorescence from Costa Rica .