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Mat-forming herbs with an indumentum of white-silvery scales on leaves, scapes and panicles; leaf bases and scapes with long, filiform, silky scales. Leaves acute, 5-40 cm long, green to grey-green above, shiny grey-green to silvery white below. Male panicle exserted, open, 10-50-flowered, 3-8 cm long; scape 3-12 cm long; spathes usually 3-7, the lowest 2 or 3 foliaceous; pedicels filiform, 2-12 mm long. Female panicle contracted, few-flowered, hidden among leaves; lowest spathes linear; pedicels absent or up to 8 mm long. Perianth greenish yellow. Male flowers: perianth segments lanceolate, 2-4 mm long; stamens 1.5-1.7 mm long; anthers less than 1 mm long. Female flowers: perianth segments narrowly lanceolate; staminodes 0.5-1.2 mm long; ovules 6-25. Berry oblong, smooth, red. Seeds smooth.
A tufted herb. It has stiff leaves which form a rosette giving it an appearance like pineapple. The leaves are long and narrow and have channels along them. They are about 20 cm long by 1-2 cm wide. The leaves are green above and silver underneath. It spreads by rhizomes. The flower are greenish and in spikes at the end of the stalk in the centre of the leaves. The fruit is a bright red round berry. They are about 12 mm long in the heart of the tuft. They contain 5 black shiny seeds. These are edible.
