plant flowering to 13 dm high. leaves 6–8 dm long; sheath distinct, ovate, darker than the blades; blade subligulate, acuminate, 4–6 cm wide, glabrous above, obscurely pale-lepidote beneath. inflorescence: peduncle erect, ca 6 dm long; peduncle bracts erect to somewhat spreading, much exceeding the internodes, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate; fertile part very laxly once-branched, pyramidal, 6–7 dm long, about 15 cm diameter; primary bracts like the upper peduncle-bracts, much shorter than the sterile bases of the branches; branches erect to spreading, very slender, to 2 dm long, at least the lower half sterile and strongly flattened with a single bract near the middle, the upper half bearing 4–6 downwardly secund flowers, very lax; floral bracts ovate, acute, ca 1 cm long. flowers nocturnal, subsessile; sepals narrowly oblong, obtuse, 16–20 mm long, 4–6 mm wide; petals linear-lanceolate, acuminate, 3 cm long, whitish, each bearing 2 lanceolate acute scales near the base. stamens shorter than the petals.Edited from : Smith & Downs 1977. Tillandsioideae (Bromeliaceae). in Flora Neotropica.