plant forming groups, a single plant with short stem, flowering tol 60 cm high. leaves few (± 6) in a rosette, homomorphous, fasciculate exceeding the inflorescence, leaves rolled up at the base of the blade into a to 20 cm long and 0.3 cm thick, stem like, with scattered flloccose scales, narrow spineless basal section; sheath distinct, triangular, at the base 1 cm wide, 2 cm long, underneath chestnut brown, nerved, floccose scaled, upper side glabrous, shiny; blade narrow-linear, to 50 cm long, 2.5–3 cm wide, long attenuate, both sides almost glabrous, flat, underneath with a prominent mid nerve, edges entire, bent over. inflorescence: peduncle erect, ± 20 cm long, 0.5 cm thick, round, reddish, densely lanate floccose; peduncle bracts few (to 5), the basal 2–3 subfoliate, far exceeding the inflorescence, upper ones similar to the floral bracts; fertile part simple-cylindric, to 6 cm long, 2.5 cm wide; floral bracts densely spiralled, fully covering the flowers, the basal ones similar to the upper peduncle bracts, green to reddish, the upper ones erect, broad shell like with short recurved tip, with the broad base enclosing the axis, broad-oval-acuminate, the basal ones to 7 cm long, the upper half dark cinnabar red, the base lighter and green, both sides scattered brown lepidote, fully enclosing the flowers. flowers subsessile, to 4.5 cm long; sepals free, 15–18 mm long, longish lanceolate, blunt, scattered brown-wool, particularly at the tip, adaxial pair sharply keeled and flat, white, red tipped; petals to 4 cm long, erect, the tips overlapping, dark-black-violet with white edge, the base white, upperside with a 2-toothed ligula. stamens and style enclosed; filament white, strongly pleated, pollen-sack yellow, enclosed. pistil: style white; ovary almost fully superior, ovules long tailed.Translated by Butcher from: Rauh 1984b. (protologue) Bromelienstudien (Mitteilung 15). I. Neue und wenig bekannte Arten aus Peru und anderen Ländern .