plant flowering ca 24 cm high. leaves ca 11, ligulate, rosulate, forming a cylindrical utriculum at the base; sheath 10–12 cm long, ca 7 cm wide, elliptic; spiny towards the top, both sides dense brown lepidote, both sides but principally inside dark purple; blade 15–25m long, 3–4,5 cm wide, both sides green and especially towards the tip dense but inconspicuous white lepidote, suberect or recurved, edges sometimes undulating, dense spined, spines brown 1–3 mm long, 1–4 mm apart, tip becoming purplish broad acute or subrounded apiculate peduncle erect, rigid, ca 18 cm long, 4 mm diam., green, sulcate, lightly lanate; peduncle bracts both sides dense white lepidote, lower part ovate tip acute apiculate that, exceed the internodes, erect, ca 25 mm long, ca 15 mm wide, entire or almost, not at all hiding the peduncle, upper ones elliptic tip broadly acute and apiculate, exceeding the internodes, clustering near the inflorescence, suberect or spreading, ca 30 mm long, ca 15 mm wide, dense spined, becoming red. inflorescence 35 mm long, 30 mm diam; subglobose, dense, once-branched at base, exceeded by the long leaves, emerging a little but distinctly above the leaf sheaths; branches ca 7, lower ones ca 15 mm long, subsessile, dense, 4–8 flowered, upper ones very inconspicuous; rachis white lanate; primary bracts lower ones similar to the peduncle bracts, twice as long as the branches, upper ones ca 3–4 mm long, subtriangular or kidney shaped, tip subrounded or obtuse mucronulate, a central nerve, shorter than the branches; floral bracts kidney shaped, 5 mm long, 10 mm wide, tip obtuse and mucronate-spined, entire, nerved, ecarinate, equalling the ovary and totally enclosing it, green, lightly white lanate, towards the top branches sterile and smaller. flowers 28 mm long, sessile, polystichous; sepals suboblong, 5.5 mm long, 4 mm wide, asymmetric with a membranous rounded wing above the central part, tip mucronate, mucrons brown 1,5 mm long, free or almost, yellowish, subglabrous, ecarinate; petals orange (seidel!), 15 mm long, free, tip apiculate, with 2 ligules at the base and also two longitudinal callouses. pistil: ovary 4 mm long, 4 mm diam., globose, green, towards the base brown lepidote; placenta joined to the top of the locules; ovules obtuse.Edited from : Bradea. (protologue) .