Plants usually found on vertical rock faces, the stem often hanging downwards with the rosettes up-turned. Stem short, or trailing and up to 1 met. long, 10-15 cm diam., simple or branched, never erect in nature, usually overhanging ledges or hanging downwards with the rosettes upturned. Leaves many in a dense multifarious rosette, 60-70 cm long, 8-9 cm broad at base, erectly spreading, gradually tapering from base to apex, rather fleshy, sometimes falcately decurved; upper surface glaucous-green to dull green, indistinctly lineate, rather flat; lower surface broadly convex, otherwise as the upper surface; margins with a very thin, narrow, palest brownish-yellow edge, armed with firm (not stout and horny or pungent) pale yellow to orange-yellow teeth, about 2 mm long, 15-25 mm distant, the interspaces straight, the teeth usually curved towards the leaf apex. Inflorescence mostly simple, sometimes 1-2-branched, 2-3 from a rosette, usually arcuate-erect, 60-90 cm high. Peduncle flattened and somewhat biconvex low down, terete upwards, about 13 mm diam., with several ovate-acuminate, brownish, membranous many-nerved sterile bracts, about 20 mm long, 14 mm broad. Racemes 25-30 cm long, long-conical, densely flowered, bicoloured, the buds scarlet, the open flowers greenish-yellow to yellowish. Brads oblong-obtuse, sub-membranous, the lowest about 13 mm long, 5 mm, broad, with several brown nerves. Pedicels the lowest 20-25 mm long, shorter upwards. Perianth greenish-yellow to yellow, trigonously cylindric-clavate, 30-35 mm long, basally slightly stipitate and tapering into the pedicel; outer segments free to base, with 3-5 nerves turning green at apex, the apices sub-acute, slightly spreading; inner segments free, much broader than the outer, white, and with a pale pink keel turning green at apex, the apices more obtuse more spreading than the outer. Filaments filiform-flattened, the 3 inner narrower and lengthening in advance of the 3 outer. Anthers the 3 inner and 3 outer in turn exserted 5 mm, Stigma at length exserted 8 mm. Ovary oblong, 8 mm long, 2.5 mm diam., slightly tapering into the style, green, finely 6-grooved.
Home