It was named for the collector Christian Julius Wilhelm Schiede.

As an epiphyte, it is found "growing in open tropical forests, and saxicolous, growing on cacti and burseras on steep dry slopes in semiarid regions in Mexico, Central America, West Indies, Venezuela, and Colombia at elevations of 750 to 5,500 feet.

"[1][2][3][4][5] This bromeliad tends to be very variable in form; it is characterized by large but thin stiff leaves.

In bloom it forms an inflorescence approximately 40 cm high with yellow or reddish-yellow flowers.

It is lightly scaled, prefers full sun, and grows in mounds.