[ or puya de Raimondi (Spanish),[1] is the largest species of bromeliad, reaching up to 15 meters in height. It is native to the high Andes of Bolivia and Peru.[1]] Taxonomy
The first scientific description of this species was made in 1830 by the French scientist Alcide d'Orbigny after he encountered it in the region of Vacas, Cochabamba, in Bolivia at an altitude of 3960 m (12,992 ft). However, as the plants he saw were immature and not yet flowering, he could not classify them taxonomically.[3]
The species name of raimondii commemorates the 19th-century Italian scientist Antonio Raimondi, who immigrated to Peru and made extensive botanical expeditions there. He encountered this species in the region of Chavín de Huantar and published it as new to science under the name Pourretia gigantea in his 1874 book El Perú[4][9] In 1928, the name was changed to Puya raimondii by the German botanist Hermann Harms, as the combination Puya gigantea was already used for a Chilean species.[4]
Description
The queen of the Andes is the largest species of bromeliad.[5] Its trunk can be 5 m tall, with a rosette of leaves, these up to 1.25 m long, the leaf spines reaching 1 cm long.[6] The inflorescence can measure between 4-8 m tall.[6][7][5] The whole plant may reach as much as 15 meters tall.[7] A single plant can produce between 8,000 [8] and 20,000 [9] flowers in a 3 month period.[5]
Its reproductive cycle lasts approximately 80 years,[1] though one individual planted near sea level at the University of California Botanical Garden, bloomed in August 1986 after only 28 years.[2]
Distribution and habitat
P. raimondii is native to the Andes of Bolivia and Peru, between 3000 - 4800 m of elevation on shrubby and rocky slopes.[1][6][10] This species seem to be very specialist on site conditions as it prefers to grow in small areas even if the surrounding terrain may seem equally suitable, resulting in a patchy distribution of P. raimondii stands.[1] Moreover, in spite of being a high altitude plant, it has thrived at near sea level in temperate climate.[1][2] Conservation status
P. raimondii is considered an endangered species by the IUCN.[1] The main threats to its survival are: human caused fires, climate change and a declining genetic diversity.[1]References
1. ^1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Lambe, A. 2009. Puya raimondii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009. Downloaded on 09 September 2015.
2. ^1 2 {{Cite web|title = San Francisco Botanical Garden - News - Rare Flower in Bloom at SF Botanical Garden|url = http://www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/news/pr/puya-raimondii.htm|website =Sfbotanicalgarden.org|access-date = 2016-01-18}}
3. ^{{cite journal|first=Benjamin A.|last=Wait|title=Puya raimondii: Wonder of the Bolivian Andes|publisher=Bromeliad Society|journal=Journal of the Bromeliad Society|url=http://journal.bsi.org/V28/5/|volume=28|issue=5|year=1978|page=200}}
4. ^1 {{cite web|url=http://www.sfbromeliad.org/newsletters/NEWS0806.pdf|title=Bromeliad Society of San Francisco|website=Sfbromeliad.org|accessdate=6 January 2018}}
5. ^1 2 {{Cite web|url=https://botany.cz/en/puya-raimondii/|title=BOTANY.cz » PUYA RAIMONDII Harms – Queen of the Andes, Queen of the Puna|website=botany.cz|access-date=2018-08-08}}
6. ^1 2 {{Cite book|url=|title=Pitcairnioideae (Bromeliaceae)|last=Smith|first=Lyman B.|last2=Downs|first2=Robert Jack|date=1986|publisher=New York Botanical Garden|year=|isbn=9780893273033|series=Flora Neotropica|location=|pages=189-190|language=en}}
7. ^1 {{Cite journal|last=Castillo J.|first=Salazar|last2=Fatima|first2=Caceres|last3=Ignazio|first3=Poma|date=2012|title=Puya raimondii the queen of de Andes. Puya raimondii la regina delle Ande.|journal=CACTUS & Co.|volume=XV|pages=28–51|issn=1129-4299|via=}}
8. ^1 Antonio Raimondi, EL PERU (Lima: Imprinta del Estado, 1875) Vol. 1 pp. 295-297.
9. ^Anthony Huxley, PLANT AND PLANET (New York: Viking 1974) p. 143.
10. ^{{Cite book|url=|title=Tropical Trees and Forests: An Architectural Analysis|last=Halle|first=F.|last2=Oldeman|first2=R. A. A.|last3=Tomlinson|first3=P. B.|date=2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|year=|isbn=9783642811906|location=|pages=104|language=en}}
(Spanish)