Suffrutescent herbs or shrubs; stems subquadrangular, hirsute, the hairs stiff, curved, ascending, 0.5 to 0.75 mm. long, brownish, the lower parts terete and glabrate; leaf blades oblong-ovate, up to 15 cm. long and 6 cm. wide, acuminate, narrowed at base and decurrent on the petiole, submembranaceous, entire or undulate, the upper surface glabrous or sparingly strigose, the hairs about 0.5 mm. long, the lower surface sparingly hirtellous or the costa and veins (9 or 10 pairs) more densely so, the hairs ascending, up to 0.75 mm. long, the costa and veins moderately prominent; petioles up to 1 cm. long, rather densely strigose or hirsute; spikes solitary, subsessile, about 8 cm. long and 3 cm. broad, the bracts ascending, scarcely imbricate, the rachis densely pilose, the hairs straight, whitish, ascending, slightly over 0.5 mm. long; bracts oblong, 25 mm. long, about 5 mm. wide, acute and aristate, both surfaces softly gray-pubescent, the hairs ascending, about 0.5 mm. long, the margins ciliate, the hairs up to 1 mm. long, the costa and lateral veins rather prominent but obscured by the pubescence; ocelli numerous (8 to 12), obscure, about 0.75 mm. long, 0.5 mm. wide, elliptic, brown, contiguous; bractlets narrowly lanceo- late, up to 14 mm. long, attenuate, carinate, the marginal region thin, striate, subglabrous, the keel densely pilose, the hairs straight, ascending, up to 1 mm. long, silvery; calyx 18 mm. long, the segments cori- aceous, striate-nerved (the nerves indurate at base), glabrous, ciliate at tip, the posterior segment oblong-lanceolate, attenuate and sharply acute, 5 mm. wide near base, anterior segments lanceolate, glabrous, attenuate and slenderly acute, the upper half ciliate, lateral segments linear-lanceolate, 2 mm. wide near base, attenuate-acuminate, glabrous, ciliate at tip; corolla about 5 cm. long, rather densely pubescent, the hairs spreading, 0.5 mm. long, the tube 2.5 mm. broad near tip of ovary, 7 mm. broad at mouth, slightly curved, the upper lip (immature co- rolla) ovate, about 10 mm. long and 6 mm. wide, bidentate, the lobes triangular, 5 mm. long, 3 mm. wide at base, acute, the middle lobe of the lower lip lanceolate, 8 mm. long, 4 mm. wide, slenderly acuminate, the tip recurved, the lateral lobes small, rounded, adnate to upper lip of corolla; stamens exserted, anthers 7 mm. long, 1.5 mm. broad, obtuse and cohering at tip, obliquely obtuse at base and minutely apiculate, the filaments pilose at base, glabrous upwardly; ovary glabrous. Type in the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, col- lected in the Quindío Mountains near the Tolima-Caldas border, Colombia, February, 1853, by J. Triana, s. n.; isotype (Col). Distinguishing characters of Aphelandra trianae are to be found in its rather large, silvery pubescent, oblong, ascending, acute bracts, its slenderly acute calyx segments, and its subglabrous to sparingly hirsute leaf blades (undersurface). There is much similarity in the spikes of this and A. aristei, but the leaf blades of that species are densely and softly pilose and the ocelli very minute and numerous.