plant stemless, but with a thick rhizomatous base, covered with the residue of the old sheaths, flowering up to 1.7–2.5 m high. leaves numerous, mostly erect, forming a large funnel-shaped or open rosette, up to 1.5 m high and over 1 m in diameter; sheath broadly ovate, 15–24 cm long, 10–13 cm wide, dark-brown in lower half to nearly black beneath, dark leather-brown on the adaxial side; blade 0.75–1.5 m long, 8.5–10 cm wide (above the sheath), pale green to cream with dark green dense wavy transverse lines and dots mostly in bands (hieroglyphic bands rauh, young leaves chocolate brown beneath), laxly lepidote on both sides, some prominent ribs beneath, with a pungent, 1–2 cm involute apex. inflorescence: peduncle erect, 0.7–1(–1.5) m long, 1.5 cm thick (in center), round, even, glabrous, green, sometimes brown-violet spotted; peduncle bracts the lower foliaceous but soon reducing to lanceolate, erect, acute, the upper ones narrowly ovate, all exceeding the internodes or sometimes shorter than the internodes (rauh), sparsely lepidote, brown-violet banded to nearly wholly brown violet, even when fresh, nerved when dry inflorescence erect, laxly once or twice-branched, fertile part of the inflorescence 60–100 cm long, 8–15 cm wide; primary bracts ovate, acuminate, reaching half way the spike, nerved when dry; axis erect, 12 mm in diameter, round, green to brown, rugose, glabrous; internodes 2–4 cm long; branches up to 25, simple or digitate of (2-)3 spikes; spikes sessile, some with short stipe (1 cm), strobiliform, ovoid to subcylindric, 3–6 cm long, 1.9(–3 rauh) cm in diameter, with numerous spirally arranged flowers; floral bracts oblong-elliptic to narrowly ovate, broadly rounded,(18-)24 x (11-)14 mm, green with purple markings, with hyaline, sometimes undulate margins, verrucose, ecarinate or bluntly carinate at the apex, exceeding the sepals. flowers: sepals fleshy, oblong-elliptic to lanceolate, finely nerved, abaxially 1 mm and adaxially 3 mm connate, obtuse or acutish, the adaxial ones carinate (especially in lower half), 13–15 x 5–6 mm, green with broad hyalin margins and brown keel, sparsely brown appressed lepidote at both sides; petals 1 mm adnate to the filaments and ovary, free, 27 x 5.5 mm, ligulate, white, rounded and slightly emarginate, the blade spreading to recurved, exposing the anthers. stamens 23 mm; filament strap-shaped, upper 1/3 fleshy, concave, strongly s-shaped, brownish; anther green, fresh 4 mm long, bilobed at base, apiculate at apex, dorsifixed at 1/3 from base. pistil 25 mm, exceeding the stamens; ovary 6 x 3 mm, ovoid, slightly contracted into the style, green, distally 3-ribbed;style slender, white; stigma green, weekly conduplicate-erect. fruits up to 2.5 long , brilliant black on the upper side when opening; seeds with short, brown hairs.Translated by amend. E.J. Gouda from: Gouda et al. 2012-2017. Encyclopaedia of bromeliads .