plant stemless, branching from the base and therefore forming groups, flowering to 60 cm high; single rosettes with weak bulbose base, to 30 cm high and to 25 cm in diam. leaves numerous, initially erect, later bent over to hanging; sheath distinct, roundish, about 2 cm broad, 1,5 cm high, upperside glabrous, white, brown towards the top, underneath chestnut brown, the top white scaled; blade to 30 cm long, above the sheath 5 mm wide, tapering to a long, filiform tip, channeled at the base, green, upperside almost glabrous, underneath densely white scaled; scales tapering to a white appendage; leaves* spines inconspicuous, greenish white, 1 mm long, ± 1 cm apart. inflorescence: peduncle 10–20 cm long, erect, round, 5 mm thick, reddish brown, densely white woolly dusty lepidote; internodes 2,5–1,5 cm long; peduncle bracts in large numbers; the basal ones subfoliate with erect, 2–1,5 cm long, edges densely and finely spined, 5–7 mm wide, scaled, green, at the base a brown-red sheath and long, filiform, 1 mm wide, indistinctly sined blade; upper ones long acuminate, longer than the internodes; fertile part laxly once-branched, to 50 cm long and 7 cm wide, rachis round, cinnabar red, white woolly; internodes 2–3 cm long; side spikes numerous, erect to spreading that hinder the basal ones in development; the longest to 7 cm long, longer than the sheaths of the primary bracta; top spike to 12 cm long, fertile up to the tip primary bracts longish ovate, acuminate; the basal ones to 3 cm long, the upper ones shorter, but longer than the short, 0,5 cm long, sterile basal section of the side spike, reddish green, underneath white woolly, edges densely white and with spines. flowers in large numbers, laxly polystichous, stemmed,erect to spreading, at anthesis with stem to 22 mm long; floral bracts ovate-elliptic, tapering to a sharp, green tip, raspberry red, weak (sharp when dry) keeled and nerved, underneath scattered scaled, edges strongly woolly, with spines, longer than the 3 mm long, brownish green, hairy stem, but shorter than the sepals; sepals 5 mm long, 3 mm wide, longish ovate, short tipped spines, shiny red, underneath densely white woolly, postfloral folded in so the base of the flower seems deeply furrowed, petals eligulate, 15–17 mm long, forming a narrow, 3 mm thick tube, narrow lanceolate, the blunt tip bent a little outwards, dark bottle green, white towards the base, postfloral drying red violet and hardly twisted spirally. stamens and style enclosed. pistil: style green in the upper section, shorter than the white filaments with yellow pollen sacks; pollen grains sulcate, reticulate.Translated by Butcher from: Rauh 1983a. (protologue) Bromelienstudien (Mitteilung 12). I. Neue und wenig bekannte Arten aus Peru und anderen Ländern .