plant propagating by rhizomes. leaves few in a narrowly funnelform rosette, 4–9.5 dm long, covered with pale appressed scales; sheath elliptic, slightly wider than the blades; blade ligulate, acuminate, to 45 mm wide, laxly and minutely serrulate. inflorescence: peduncle central, shorter than the leaves, slender, sparsely white-lanate or glabzous; peduncle bracts erect, clasping, usually less than half as long as the internodes, lanceolate, acute, entire, submembranaceous, rose to pale brown, white-lepidote; fertile part simple, densely ellipsoid or ovoid, 5–8 cm long, 30–45 mm in diameter; floral bracts 5–6 ranked, uniform, ovate, acute or acuminate, subcoriaceous, more or less lepidote, the lower about equaling the petals. flowers sessile, erect; sepals slightly connate, elliptic, obtuse, very asymmetric, 10–14 mm long, membranaceous; petals erect, 24–46 mm long, the linear claw with 2 fimbriate scales, the blade elliptic, blue. stamens included at anthesis, filaments of the second series more than half adnate to the petals; pollen ellipsoid, biporate. pistil: ovary ellipsoid, the epigynous tube evident; placentae subapical.Edited from : Smith & Downs 1979. Bromelioideae (Bromeliaceae) in Flora Neotropica.