plant stemless or short-caulescent, about 60 cm high, propagating by the production of offsets at the base of the plant as a small leafy rosette. leaves about 20 per rosette, not flat nor erect, not narrowed into the sheath, green; sheath very widely ovate, membranaceous, 25–30 mm long, 20 mm wide, densely appressed on both sides, white-lepidote, margins serrate, spines up to 0.5 mm long; blade linear to narrowly elliptic, most of them reaching up to 50 cm long, 0.8–1.2(-l .8) cm wide, gradually attenuate to the apex, apex very long, usually ending with a bristle, central portion of the blade not channeled, lepidote on both sides along the whole blade, margins erect and not at all undulate, from minutely serrate to serrate, spines antrorse, up to 1.5 mm long, more evident basally. inflorescence scapose, capitate, erect, 6–10 cm long, about 6 cm in diameter including lateral fascicles, white-lepidote; inflorescence* bracts similar to leaves but smaller, wide elliptic, 27 mm long, 15 mm wide, acute and long attenuate, cucullate, margins spinose, multinervate. flowers 20–30 organized in fascicles with 5 to 6 flowers each that descend from the axils of the foliaceous bracts, 27–30 mm long, sessile, all hermaphrodite (!sensu e; pereira); floral bracts triangulate, cucullate, 12 mm long, 5–7 mm wide, wing carinate, white-lepidote, apically on external surface, spinose margins, apex spinose-acuminate, sub-pungent; sepals triangular to elliptic or lanceolate, obtuse, 12–15 mm long, 2–3 mm wide, connate by 3–4 mm, cucullate, mucronate, mucro 1 mm long, wing-carinate, crenate in its upper half; petals spathulate, obtuse, cucullate, short apiculate, 12–15 mm long, 5–6 mm wide, recurved at anthesis (!e; pereira). stamens exerted at anthesis; filament 12–13 mm long; anther dorsifixed, 3 mm long, obtusely sagittate at the base, apex obtuse. pistil: style 17 mm long; stigma with three semicircular lobes, connate, margins minutely fimbriate; epigynous tube lacking; ovary triangular, 4 mm long; ovules numerous, obtuse. fruits and seeds unknown;.Edited from : Ramirez 1996. Systematics, phylogeny and chromosome number evolution in Cryptanthus (Bromeliaceae) .