plant stemless to with a short stem, forming about 1,5 m high bush, single plants formed with a few, dimorphous leaves, the basal ones bladeless, soon drying up, brown, triangular-acuminate, upper side glabrous, underneath dense brown lepidote, smooth edged lower leaves. leaves leaves with small, indistinct, 3–4 cm high and 4 cm wide, upper side white and glabrous, underneath dark brown sheath; blade with stem, to 80 cm long, strongly canaliculate, with a ligulate blade above; these are long-acuminate, 5–7,5 cm wide, upper side glabrous, dark green, underneath very dense light brown lepidote, groove nerved,( with stem), ± 1,5 m long, edges with small, brown teeth. inflorescence: peduncle initially growing erect, then bent, 30–40 cm long, ± 2 cm thick, light brick-red, dense brown woolly lepidote; peduncle bracts triangular-acuminate, soon drying brown, all longer than the internodes, both sides scattered brown lepidote; fertile part simple, the fertile part ± 40 cm long, erect to almost horizintal; rachis visible, 1–1,5 cm thick, light brick red, small brown lepidote, the base of the floral bracts thickened, running down the rachis, so that it becomes blunt angled; floral bracts triangular-acuminate, soon drying brown, the basal ones clearly longer, the upper ones ± as long or shorter than the pedicels, upperside glabrous, underneaths brown lepidote, nerved. flowers zygomorphic, polystichous, with pedicel 9–10 cm long, pedicels thick, flattened, 10–20 mm long, 5 mm thick, light brick-red, scattered brown lepidote, verrucose; sepals longish-oval, acuminate, strongly succulent, 3,5 cm long, ecarinate, lower half and middle bright brick-red, top and edges yellowish green to yellow, verrucose, (on which the species name is based), scattered brown lepidote, free; petals ligulate, acuminate, 8 cm long, two petals bent into a hood and enclosing the stamens and style, the third petal almost erect, yellow, in the middle weakly reddish, the base with 1 cm long, triangular-acuminate ligula. stamens and style enclosed, bent; filament bright yellow, anthers narrow-linear, 15 mm long, with gold-yellow pollen. pistil: style with three free, twisted, long-papillose stigma lobes; ovary 3/4 superior, with numerous blunt ovules.Translated by Butcher from: Gross 1997. (protologue) Bromelienstudien (Mitteilung 23). I. Neue und wenig bekannte Arten aus Peru und anderen Ländern .