Wikimedia Commons
Bromeliaceae
Queen of the Andes
Puya raimondii
Patience, grandeur, and a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
- Family
- Bromeliaceae
- Genus
- Puya
- Native to
- Bolivia, Peru
- Bloom season
- Variable; Once In 80–100 Years
- Type
- monocarpic perennial
- Height
- up to 15 m (flower spike)
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- rocky, well-drained, alpine
- Water
- low to medium
- Hardiness
- 8–10
- Lifespan
- 80–100+ years; dies after flowering
Did you know
- It is the largest bromeliad in the world, with a flower spike reaching up to 15 meters tall.
- Each plant produces roughly 8,000 to 20,000 individual flowers on a single massive inflorescence.
- It waits 80 to 100 years before flowering, then dies — the ultimate 'live once, bloom big' strategy.
- Fewer than a few hundred thousand individuals remain in the wild; it is classified as endangered.
- Hummingbirds are the primary pollinators, visiting the thousands of blooms over several months.
Color meanings
White
ultimate patience and rare magnificence