plant stemless, flowering 1 m high. leaves 8 dm long; sheath ample, 2 dm long, covered with appressed brown-centered scales, dark castaneous toward base; blade ligulate; broadly acute and apiculate, 7 cm wide, appressed-lepidote beneath. inflorescence: peduncle lateral, straight, 7 mm in diameter, glabrous; peduncle bracts distichous, densely imbricate, lanceolate, acute, carinate, coriaceous, even, red, obscurely lepidote, the lowest small, regularly larger toward apex of peduncle and merging evenly with the floral bracts; fertile part linear-oblanceolate, very strongly complanate, 7 cm wide, densely many-flowered; rachis angled, internodes about 15 mm long; floral bracts suberect, linear-lanceolate, attenuate, straight, 11–13 cm long, sharply carinate, subglabrous. flowers subsessile; sepals narrowly lance-triangular, acuminate, 25–41 mm long, thin, nerved, carinate, glabrous; petals 7 cm long; bearing 2 scales. stamens included (at anthesis?). fruits sub cylindric, acute; 35 mm long.Edited from : Smith & Downs 1977. Tillandsioideae (Bromeliaceae). in Flora Neotropica.