; 0 whole plant 4–5 ft; 1 high. leaves lorate, thinly lepidote, 2 ft; long, 2 in; broad at the middle, armed with small black slender spreading teeth. inflorescence a narrow panicle above a foot long, the lower branches consisting of 5–6 glomerate spikes at most an inch long, clustered at the end of a short peduncle; floral bracts ovate-cuspidate, furfuraceous, 1/3 in; long. flowers: calyx with ovary shorter than the flower- bract; petal- blade purple, ¼ in; long.Edited from : Baker 1889. (protologue) Handbook of the Bromeliaceae .