plant stemless, flowering to 1,5 m high. leaves numerous, to 60 cm high and forming a funnel rosette to 1 m wide; sheath indistinct, 10–12 cm long, 8–9 cm wide, both sides bright leather-brown lepidote; blade narrow ligulate, to 80 cm long, above the sheath 5,5 cm wide, long attenuate, tapering to a sharp, pungent, 2 cm long tip, both sides green, glabrous. inflorescence: peduncle erect, 50–60 cm long, slightly exceeding the leaf rosette (fig; 29, left) at the base 2 cm thick, glabrous, reddish, densely covered by erect, subfoliate peduncle bracts; fertile part erect, narrow-pyramidal, to 60 cm long and 20 cm wide, twice-branched,(only at the top once-branched), with numerous, spirally arranged, spreading to erect, to 15 cm long primary side spikes (fig; 29, left and middle); inflorescence* axis erect, weakly angular, green to reddish, glabrous; primary bracts the basal ones similar to the upper peduncle bracts, lanceolate triangular acuminate, ½ as long as the side branches (with an end spike); primary branches with 2 cm long, leafless, flattened, reddish basal section and 2–3 short secondary side branches; spikes erect, 5–10 cm long, 1 cm thick, with 10–16 laxly polystichous, erect, subsessile flowers; rachis weakly flexuous, sharply triangular, green, glabrous; floral bracts erect, long lanceolate, with short, hooked tip, green, glabrous, ecarinate, membranous seamed at the edge, to 20 mm long and 5 mm wide, a little longer than the sepals. flowers: sepals long lanceolate, connate for 19 mm, 5 mm wide, 2 mm high, indistinctly carinate, nerved at the tip, glabrous, pale green; petals white, erect, spreading a little, only exceeding the sepals by about 3 mm (fig; 29, right), narrow ligulate, to 22 mm long, rounded at the tip, with 8 mm long, free lobes. stamens and style deeply included; stamens* with flattened, white filaments and linear, black anthers. pistil: ovary longish cone shaped, 4 mm long, green, with white style and frayed, green stigma; shorter than the anthers.Translated by Butcher from: Rauh 1986a. (protologue) Bromelienstudien (Mitteilung 18). I. Neue und wenig bekannte Arten aus Peru und anderen Ländern .