Leaves 5-6 in a short tubular rosette, 40-80 cm long, 3-4 cm wide, green with a brownish or reddish underside, white or yellow spotted or sometimes cross-banded on both sides; margins laxly serrate. Scape slender, curved downwards, with bright red bracts. Inflorescence pendent, simple, many-flowered, white farinose; sepals short pointed, red; petals greenish-yellow with a dark blue tip; ovary mealy white.
Brazil
Related cultivars: ‘Catherine Wilson’ Tall tight tube, leaves green, blotched and spotted cream, flared at top. Erect inflorescence, bright red bracts, petals yellow-green.
‘Fantasia’ Loose tube, leaves green, blotched and spotted cream. Erect inflorescence, bright red bracts; petals red, tipped iridescent blue-purple.
‘Fascinator’ Loose thin tube, leaves green, heavily blotched with cream. Pendent inflorescence, petals green, edged violet.
‘Hoelscheriana’ Medium thin tube, leaves green, speckled cream, pendent inflorescence, deep rose bracts, petals green, edged violet.
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.