Plant 25-45 cm. high. Leaves many in a dense rosette, equaling or exceeding the inflorescence but usually recurved, densely and minutely appressed-lepidote; sheaths broadly ovate to elliptic-oblong, 4-8 cm. long, deep castaneous; blades narrowly triangular, filiform-acuminate but with blunt apex, 5-10 mm. wide. Scape erect. Scape-bracts foliaceous but red-brown, all linear-laminate, usually subinvolucrate below the inflorescence. Inflorescence simple and distichous-flowered or densely digitate from 2-5 spikes. Primary bracts like the scape-bracts but very short-laminate, less than half as long as the spikes. Spikes sessile, ovate or lanceolate, acute, slightly complanate, 7-10 cm. long, 25-35 mm. wide. Floral bracts densely imbricate, broadly ovate, acute, to 4 cm. long, exceeding the sepals, subinflated, carinate, coriaceous with broad membranous margin, nerved, minutely lepidote. Flowers subsessile. Sepals lance-oblong, acute, 30-35 mm. long, compli-cate, alate, densely and minutely lepidote. Petals tubular-erect, 4-6 cm. long, white near apex, violet below. Stamens exserted. Capsule cylindric, acute, 3 cm. long.
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