plant stemless, but with a short and thick, rhizomatous base, covered with the remains of the old, dead leaves, flowering up to 2 m (!) high. leaves numerous, forming a big, funnelform rosette, up to 1 m high and 2 m in diameter; sheath inconspicuous, lanceolate-ovate, up to 20 cm long and 15 cm wide, densely leatherbrown lepidote on both sides; blade ligulate, acute, up to 1.5 m long, 7 cm wide, nearly glabrous on both sides, erect to recurved; the inner rosette-leaves erect. inflorescence: peduncle erect, stout, shorter than the leaves; peduncle bracts densely imbricate, foliaceous; fertile part laxly pyramidal, 1–1.5 m long, 40–50 cm in diameter, twice-branched, only once-branched in the upper part, with ± 30 suberect to spreading branches; rachis erect, 3 cm thick at the base, round or slightly angled, glabrous, pale pink, its internodes 2–3 cm long; primary bracts ligulate, triangular-acute, with a green, lepidote blade and a red sheath, enfolding the rachis, as long or slightly longer than the sterile bases of the primary branches which are up to 10 cm long; secondary branches with shorter sterile bases; spikes horizontally spreading or somewhat curved down, oblong, obtuse, up to 17 cm long and 4 cm wide; rachis* geniculate; floral bracts divergent to suberect, densely imbricate at their bases, ecarinate, short acute, up to 3 cm long, 1 cm wide, fleshy, glabrous, bright pink, much shorter than the sepals; the base of their dorsal sides deeply excavate and their margins broadly winged; these wings enfolding the apical half of the flower below. flowers subsessile; sepals 3.5–4 cm long, fleshy, ecarinate, obtuse, free, pale pink, whitish-green at the base; petals with spreading to recurved, suborbicular, 1.2 x 1.2 cm dark-violet blades, postfloral drying black. stamens deeply included, with whitish filaments and yellow anthers style very short, shorter than the filaments, with big, applanate stigmas. pistil: ovary oblong, 5 mm high, green. fruits up to 5 cm long, greenish, obtuse, angled.Edited from : Rauh 1985g. Tillandsia platyrhachis and two new varieties .