Rosette dense, upright. Leaves to 1 m long, stiff, erect, pungent-pointed, dull dark green with grey scales, margins with stout brown spines. Scape slender, white woolly, bracts rose-pink. Inflorescence compound, pyramidal. Flowers arranged in 2 ranks (rows) with white to blue or purple petals; sepals rose-pink, white woolly with a pungent tip.
A. distichantha is in the subgenus Platyaechmea (Group 5)
South America.
A robust hardy plant that grows well outdoors, suckers freely.
Related cultivar: 'Burgundy' A large open vase, dark purple spiny leaves. Inflorescence erect, burgundy and white-coloured.
Source: (2005). Bromeliaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
