Plants often forming colonies of rosettes, arborescent, to 7 m; rosettes with leaves hanging at various angles, giving an overall ragged appearance. Stems 1-8, occasionally 2-5-branched, 14-15 cm diam. Leaf blade erect, yellowish to bluish green, usually U- or V-shaped in cross section, thick, 36-128 × 1.6-7 cm, rigid, scabrous, margins entire, filiferous with straight, coarse fibers, light brown. Inflorescences erect, paniculate, arising mostly within rosettes, variable in shape, usually ovoid, 18 dm, glabrous, rarely slightly pubescent; peduncle scapelike, 0.3 m or longer. Flowers pendent; perianth globose; tepals distinct, cream-colored, occasionally tinged with purple, ovate, 2.7-8.1 × 1-3.4 cm, apex rounded or acute; filaments 1-2.7 cm, short-pubescent proximally; anthers 1-6 mm; pistil 1.5-3.5 × 0.5-1 cm; ovary 1.3-3.3 cm; style 2-8 mm; stigmas distinct. Fruits pendent, baccate, indehiscent, 4.4-18.7 × 1.8-4.6 cm, fleshy, succulent. Seeds black, 5-14 mm diam., 1-5 mm thick.

Flowering mid winter--spring. Grassy or rocky slopes or mesas, brushland, chaparral; 0--1600 m; N.Mex., Tex.; n Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas).