Plant to 75 cm. high. Leaves 10-15 in an ellipsoid rosette, 5-7 dm. long; sheaths elliptic, 1 dm. long, densely brown-lepidote; blades ligulate, 3-6 cm. wide, cinereous-lepidote, spinose-serrate. Scape erect, white-flocculose, later glabrous. Scape-bracts elliptic, acute, denticulate, red. Inflorescence dense or lax, bipinnate, cylindric, fertile throughout, 15-36 cm. long. Lowest primary bracts like the scape-bracts, ex-ceeding the spikes, the others abruptly reduced to about the size of the floral bracts, ovate or narrowly triangular, acumi-nate. Spikes spreading or reflexed, distichously 10-flowered, 20-45 mm. long. Rhachis undulate, compressed. Floral bracts spreading, cymbiform, broadly ovate, mucronate, 5 mm. long, barely exceeding the ovary, puberulent. Flowers 12-16 mm. long. Sepals asymmetric, mucronate, free, 4-5 mm. long. Petals linear, mucronate, bearing 2 scales above base. Ovary ellipsoid. Ovules borne at summit of cell, caudate.
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