Plant acaulescent, 15-20(-30) cm tall, with a small crateriform or cyathiform rosette of about 20 cinereous leaves. Leaves thin-coriaceous, 11-32 cm long, mostly shorter than the inflorescence; sheaths distinct, abruptly contracted into the blade, broadly ovate, strongly inflated-convex, 3-6.3 x 3.3-5.5 cm, chartaceous at the margins, very densely ferrugineous-lepidote, except for the extreme base, dull-to very dark-brown; blades strongly arching or suberect, very narrowly triangular, sometimes involute-subulate when dry, 7-25 x 0.8-2 cm, long-attenuately acute (subfiliform), very densely subappressed-lepidote, often with less extended scales at the upper side, cinereous-green. Inflorescence pendent, simple or subdigitate of 2-4 racemes, (10-)23-40 cm long; scape decurved, 5-17 cm long, ca. 2-3 mm in diam., sparsely floccose, concealed by the leaves and foliaceous bracts; scape bracts erect, imbricate, subchartaceous, the lower ones often long laminate, the upper ones more oblong, apiculate or acutish, exceeding the internodes, densely lepidote; axis hidden, very short; primary bracts as the upper scape bracts, thin-coriaceous; peduncles mostly very short and only prophyllate, except for the elongated and densely bracteate peduncle of the apical raceme; racemes mostly straight, linear or rarely lanceolate, complanate, (5-)13-23 x 1.5-1.8 cm, acutish, densely and distichously 9-20-flowered, often with a few reduced sterile bracts at the base and apex; rachis hidden at anthesis, slightly flexuous, angled, sparsely floccose or subglabrous; floral bracts erect, densely imbricate, coriaceous, with even or faintly veined surface when dry, ovate, 2.4-3.3 cm long, 2-3 times as long as the internodes, much exceeding the sepals, with submembranaceous margins, blunt sub-cucullate at the apex, nearly straiight except at the base, ecarinate, appressed-lepidote or the upper ones subglabrous except for the floccose apex, deep pink or reddish. Flowers contiguous with the rachis, on 2-3 mm long pedicels; receptacle short, hollow, angled; sepals coriaceous, thickened and stiff at the base, with even surface, 1.4-1.8 cm long, with broad veinless margins, broadly acute or obtuse, evenly almost free, ecarinate and straight, glabrous at both sides; petals linear-lingulate, 2.7-3.6 cm long, the blade slightly divergent, yellowish or green, with or without highly adnate ligules at the base; ligules linear, ca. 8 mm long, free lobes minute, often bluntly bidentate; stamens just included, unequal, the longest ones slightly shorter than the pistil, filaments flat, free, becoming dilate-subterete and green toward the apex, anthers dorsifixed (at 1/2), sagittate, 2-3.5 mm long, apiculate; ovary ovoid, ca. 6 mm long, abruptly contracted into the slender style, stigmas linear, ca. 2 mm long. Capsule cylindric, ca. 3.5 cm long, abruptly rounded and short-beaked.
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