Caulescent, rhizomatous herb, 3-5 (6) m tall. Petioles ca 1 m long; blades broadly oblong, acute to acuminate, rounded at base and sometimes inequilateral, 1.5-2 m long and ca 50 cm wide, sometimes glaucous on underside. Inflorescence pendulous, red, 0.5-1(2) m long, inconspicuously puberulent; rachis flexuous; bracts broadly ovate, 6-18 cm long, red, strongly reflexed at anthesis; flowers 8-30, yellow, ca 4.5 cm long. Fruits pedicellate, ca 1 cm long, bluish. Croat 12422. Cultivated at the Laboratory Clearing; introduced to the island by Dressler from the Caribbean slope. The inflorescence begins to emerge at the beginning of the rainy season, requiring nearly 1 month to become fully extended. The flowers emerge from the bracts before the inflorescence is fully extended and may still be present into the dry season of the following year. Stiles (1975) reported the species to flower all year in Costa Rica. The fruits develop within about a month. Costa Rica and Panama. In Panama, known from tropical wet forest along the Caribbean slope and in the Canal Zone.
