Puya

Did you know

• Puya raimondii is the Queen of the Andes — it can take 80 to 100 years to produce its first and only flower spike, then dies after setting seed.
• The bloom spike can reach 30–40 feet tall and bears up to 8,000 individual flowers, making it one of the largest inflorescences on Earth.
• It grows only at high Andean altitudes between 12,000 and 15,000 feet, where temperatures can drop below freezing nightly.
• Named after Italian-Peruvian naturalist Antonio Raimondi, who first described the plant during his 19th-century exploration of Peru.
• The dense rosette of spiny leaves often shelters birds and small animals seeking warmth in the cold puna grasslands.

Color meanings

Uses

• ornamental
• wildlife habitat
• cultural icon