Plants acaulescent, freely suckering; rosettes solitary or densely cespitose, 3–6 × 6–12 dm. Leaves mostly erect, widest near base, 20–40(–50) × 0.7–2.5 cm; blade yellowish green or deep green, with or without conspicuous white bud-prints on both surfaces, linear, firm, adaxially plane or somewhat concave toward apex, abaxially convex to deeply convex toward base; margins straight, filiferous or not, unarmed, fibers erect to spreading, sparse, white, filiform, brittle; apex acuminate to long-acuminate, spine brown or grayish, acicular, 0.8–1.9 cm. Scape 1.6–4 m. Inflorescences spicate or subspicate to narrowly racemose-paniculate, laxly flowered on distal 1/4–1/2; bracts caducous, narrowly triangular, 2–4 cm; peduncle 4 cm or shorter. Flowers 1 or 2–3(–6) per cluster, erect, (2.9–)3–5 cm; perianth yellow, tube funnelform, 8–11(–14) × 5–8(–13) mm, limb lobes erect to incurved, subequal, (7–)11–16 mm; stamens slightly exserted; filaments inserted high in perianth tube, 6–13 mm above tube base at 1 or 2 levels, erect, yellow, 1.5–2.2 cm; anthers light to deep yellow, (7.5–)10–17 mm; ovary 0.8–1.6 cm, neck constricted, 3–9 mm. Capsules short-pedicellate, obovoid, 1–2.2 cm, apex rounded to beaked. Seeds 3–3.5 mm.

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora): sw United States, nw Mexico.