Plant flowering to 1 m high, forming clumps. Leaves 30-40 cm long , 4 cm wide; leaf sheaths 7 cm wide, hairless, dark brown beneath; blade attenuate, marginal spines 3-4 mm long. Scape erect with linear-triangular serrate bracts. Inflorescence laxly paniculate, many-flowered; branches spreading, 10-20 cm long; lax bracts 4 mm long; sepals 8-12 mm long; petals 25-28 mm long, yellow with green tip, forming a tube; stamens usually included.
Northern Peru to north-western Argentina
D. brevifolia (Griseb.) Castellanos from southern Bolivia forms large cushions. Leaves densely overlapping on short stems; blades triangular 20-22 mm long, 5-7 mm wide, 2.5 mm thick, sparsely spined mainly at the base. Scape none. Flowers 1-3; petals exceeding the sepals, 20-30 mm long, green, forming a tube; stamens mainly included.
D. lorentziana (Mez) Castellanos from northern Argentina forms large cushions. Leaves densely overlapping on short stems; blades triangular, 5-15 cm long, 8 mm wide, 4-5 mm thick, sparsely spined. Scape none. Flowers 1-3; petals exceeding the sepals, 3.2 cm long, green, forming a tube; stamens mainly included. Much larger than D. brevifolia and the leaf margins more evenly toothed, compared with D. brevifolia which has marginal teeth mainly at the base.
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.