; 0 terrestrial plant, to 1 m or more tall when flowering. leaves 1–1.75 m long, exceeding inflorescence; blade ligulate, 3.5 - 7 cm wide, linear-lanceo!ate, acute with a stout black apical spine 5 mm long, subdensely serrate throughout with antrorse black spines to 3 mm long, sparsely pale lepidote above, more densely scaled beneath, scales dark-centred; sheath up to 30 x 8.5 cm or more, oblong, entire except towards apex, chestnut-brown-lepidote peduncle erect, 65–70 cm long, 0.75 cm in diameter, deep pink, white-floccose above, glabrescent; peduncle bracts to 17 x 5 cm, imbricate, oblong-cuspidate, entire, deep yellow-ochre, tinged pink, sparsely brown-lepidote without, glossy white-cartilaginous within. inflorescence up to 30 x 5 cm, once-branched, rachis pink; primary bracts up to 10( - 15) x 1.25( - 2) cm, oblong to narrowly lanceolate, obtuse to acute, entire, pink-tinged, glabrous, reflexed; branches short with peduncles 1- 1.5( - 2) cm long, 2 –4-flowered. flowers sessile; floral bracts to 2.25 x 2 cm, broad-elliptic to sub circular, carinate, entire, glabrous, strongly and prominently nerved especially outside, mauve-pink; sepals c; 1.1 cm long, connate near base, strongly asymmetric, mauve-violet, mucro 0.5 mm long petals c; 20 x 7 cm wide, obovate-spathulate, claw white, limb indigo with 2 fimbriate scales at base.Edited from : Kew Bull.. (protologue) .