Often over 1 m. high. Leaves densely rosulate, 45 cm. long, obscurely punctu-late-lepidote, light green, sometimes suffused or marked with red or purple; sheaths conspicuous, suborbicular; blades ligulate, acute, to 6 cm. wide. Scape erect, glabrous. Scape-bracts foliaceous, densely imbricate. Inflorescence barely or amply tripinnate, pyramidal, red, glabrous. Primary bracts large and foliaceous, the lower ones exceeding the branches. Secondary bracts narrowly lanceolate, slightly shorter than the spikes. Spikes lanceolate or elliptic, acute, dense, 8-flowered or usually less. Floral bracts suberect, 2 to 3 times as long as the inter-nodes but so narrow as to expose the rhachis, acute, exceeding the sepals, convex, ecarinate, coriaceous, even or nerved. Flowers subsessile, 25-30 mm. long. Sepals linear-lanceolate, acute, 15-20 mm. long, subfree. Petals violet. Stamens in-cluded. Capsule cylindric, 3 cm. long.
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