plant acaulescent. leaves with an un-armed channelled petiole a foot long, and an ensiform acuminate unarmed entire chartaceous blade 2 ft; long, an inch broad at the middle, green and glabrous above, thinly clothed with brown-furfuraceous tomentum beneath. inflorescence: peduncle 1 ½ –2 ft; long; reduced leaves (bracts) with long points; racemes lax, simple, 4–6 in; long. flowers: pedicel ½ - ¾ in; long; bracts shorter than the pedicels; sepals lanceolate, ¾ –1 in; long; petals bright red, twice as long as the sepals, ca 2 in long. fruits: seeds with a horny border, not tailed.Edited from : Baker 1889. (protologue) Handbook of the Bromeliaceae .