This lovely Brazilian plant with silver banded chocolate-brown leaves, is one of the best of the genus. Resembling a Cryptanthus in general shape, but larger and more arching, it produces a very tall green inflorescence with burr-like floral bracts and small plantlets. Once very rare and costly. 

A species confusingly similar to O. lemei and toscanoi. The plant has very stiff, spiny, silvery leaves in an open rosette. The leaves are somewhat channeled and recurve downward. When in bloom, the inflorescence forms a straight spike with leaf-like scape bracts and numerous strobilate branches of green, with tiny white flowers. We first obtained this species from the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens with a accession number of SEL1982-0436. It was originally collected by Alvim Seidel at Pilao Arcado, Bahia, Brazil.