Tillandsia kegeliana Mez

Tillandsia kegeliana Mez, in DC. Monog Phan. 9:725. 1896.
Plant stemless; leaves many in a dense rosette, 12-17 cm. long; sheaths broadly ovate, over 3 cm. long, membranaceous, castaneous-lepidote; blades often more or less secund, involute-subulate, acuminate, 5 mm. wide at the base, rigid, densely pale-lepidote; scape slender, ascending, very short, glabrous ; scape-bracts erect, densely imbricate, lance-ovate, long-caudate, appressed-lepidote; inflorescence simple, exceeded by the leaves, densely 6-8-flowered, elliptic in outline, strongly complanate, 40-55 mm. long, 30-35 mm. wide; rhachis undulate, angled, glabrous; floral bracts suberect, densely imbricate, acuminate from a broadly elliptic base, strongly complanate, incurved, 3 cm. long, 16 mm. wide, fleshy, bright-red when fresh, minutely rugulose and blackish when dry, glabrous; flowers erect or suberect; pedicels short and thick; sepals elliptic, obtuse, 2 cm. long, 7.5 mm. wide, coriaceous when dry, probably fleshy when living, densely punctulate-Iepidote, slightly nerved, free; petals over 4 cm. long, dark purple; stamens exserted; capsule subprismatic, over 5 cm. long.
TvpB locality: Near Paramaribo, Surinam. Distiubution: Panama; also in Colombia and Surinam.