Plants usually solitary, acaulescent or with short stem, rarely with stem up to 50 cm long, erect or procumbent. Leaves about 30, exactly distichous in young plants, later becoming spirally twisted, always densely rosulate in mature specimens, lanceolate-acuminate, averaging 30-40 cm long, 7 cm broad near base, with about 8 cm of the apical portion dry and twisted; upper surface flat to slightly canaliculate, bluish-green to bluish-grey near base turning to reddish-brown near apex, glabrous, unspotted, obscurely lineate; lower surface convex, more milky bluish-grey near base turning reddish upwards; margins armed with deltoid sometimes bifid reddish-brown teeth 2-5 mm long, 5-10 mm distant. Inflorescence simple, up to 1 met. high, usually 2-3 from a rosette, but sometimes 4-6 in robust specimens. Peduncle 12-15 mm diam., flattened low down, clothed with numerous ovate-acute sterile bracts, up to 23 mm long, 15 mm broad at base, dirty white to pale brownish, thin, scarious, many-nerved, spreading near apex. Racemes conical to cylindric-acuminate, up to 25 cm long, 10 cm diam. the buds densely imbricate, the open flowers laxer, cernuous to sub-pendulous; the open flowers rose-pink to scarlet-red, greenish tipped, the buds redder and blue-grey tipped. Pedicels the lowest up to 20 mm long, reaching 30 mm in the fruit stage. Bracts lanceolate-acute, usually as long as the pedicel (about 20 mm), 13 mm broad at base, thin dry many-nerved, eventually turning purplish. Perianth Rose Doree to Scarlet Red (R.C.S. I) with a bloom, greenish at mouth, cylindric-trigonous, straight, 40-50 mm long with 45 mm the average, not or very slightly stipitate at base; outer segments free to base (but lightly cohering to the inner segments for 20 mm) with 7-9 obscure nerves confluent at apex, the apices sub-acute, greenish; inner segments free, broader than the outer, with white marginal border and a pronounced reddish-pink keel throughout, the apical 5 mm turning green. Filaments filiform-flattened, lemon, the 3 inner narrower and lengthening in advance of the 3 outer, with their anthers not or very slightly exserted. Stigma exserted 1-2 mm. Ovary 9 mm long, 3 mm diam., finely 6-grooved, pale olive-green.
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Plants stemless or short-stemmed, 200-400 mm tall excluding inflorescence. Leaves ±30, distichous until first or second flowering, later rosulate, 250-400 x 50-70 mm, bluish green to bluish grey, sometimes tinged purplish. Inflorescence a simple raceme, 0.6-2.0 m tall, 2-6 per rosette; bracts spathulate, 15-20 x 6-13 mm, many-nerved. Flowers brilliant pink, 33-50 mm long; outer segments free to base, inner segments adnate to outer for 12-20 mm; pedicels 14-20 mm long, lengthening to ±30 mm in fruit. Anthers not or hardly exserted. Ovary 5.5-9.0 x 1.5-3.0 mm, pale olive-green; style exserted 1-2 mm. Fruit not seen.
Acaulescent or shortly caulescent, succulent herb, up to 400 mm tall, excluding inflorescence. Leaves distichous in young parts (up to flowering size), smooth. Inflorescence 0.6-2.0 m high. Racemes shorter than 300 mm. Outer perianth segments free to base. Flowers brilliant pink.
A short stemmed herb. It grows 20-40 cm tall. There are about 30 leaves in a ring. They are 25-40 cm long by5-7 cm wide. They are bluish-green.
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