Plant about 1 m. high. Leaves several in a laxly crateriform rosette, to 2 m. long; sheaths short and inconspicuous denticulate, covered with minute brown scales; blades linear, acuminate, 5-10 cm. wide, glabrous above, finely pale-lepidote beneath between the nerves, laxly armed with dark uncinate spines up to 5 mm. long; sheaths short and inconspicuous, denticulate, covered with minute brown much exceeding the internodes, the upper ones massed below the inflorescence and reflexed. Inflorescence simple or more often compound from a few subequal heads, compact, broadly pyramidal. Heads sessile, globose, 12 cm. thick. Floral bracts decurved from the middle, ovate with a triangular acuminate pungent apex, to 65 mm. long, coriaceous, thick, densely spinose-serrate, cinereous-lepidote be-neath. Flowers sessile, to 5 cm. long, much compressed dorsally. Sepals asym-metric, narrowly triangular, acuminate, pungent, the anterior one to 38 mm. long, the posterior ones to 35 mm., free, lepidote. Petals 4 cm. long, acute, flavous when dry, bearing 2 minute truncate scales well above base. Ovary broadly elliptic, enlarged in fruit. Ovules borne in upper half of cell.
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A pineapple like plant. It is a herb that keeps growing from year to year. It grows 1.2 m high and spreads 1.5 m wide. The leaves are spiny. They are 1.5-3 m long. A mature plant has 20-40 leaves.
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