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Puya raimondii

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"Queen of the Andes" redirects here. For the 2020 film, see Queen of the Andes (film).

Queen of the Andes
Puya raimondii flowering in Ayacucho, Peru.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Bromeliaceae
Genus: Puya
Species:
P. raimondii
Binomial name
Puya raimondii
Synonyms

Pourretia gigantea Raimondi

Puya raimondii, also known as the Queen of the Andes (English), titanka and ilakuash (Quechua) or puya de Raimondi (Spanish),[1] is the largest species of bromeliad, its inflorescences reaching up to 15 m (50 ft) in height. It is native to the high Andes of Bolivia and Peru.[1]

Taxonomy

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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 3,960 m (12,990 ft). However, as the plants he saw were immature and not yet flowering, he could not classify them taxonomically.[2]

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.[3][4] 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.[3]

Names

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In English Puya raimondii is known as Queen of the Andes.[1] In the Quechua language it is known variously as titanka, ilakuash, puya, kara, tikatika, santun, qishqi, puwa, t'ikanka, or chukiqayara[5][6]

Description

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The queen of the Andes is the largest species of bromeliad.[7] Its trunk can be 4 meters (13 ft) tall and 60 centimeters (2 ft) in diameter,[8] though more often they are 1 to 2 m (3.3 to 6.6 ft) and covered in old leaves.[9] The trunk is topped by a dense rosette of leaves, each between 1–1.25 m (3–4 ft) long and about 9 cm (4 in) in width.[8] The upper sides of the leaves is green while their undersides are lepidote, covered with small scurfy scales, making it white in color.[9] The edges of the leaves are widely serrated with stiff, dark brown spines, each about 1 cm long.[8]

The inflorescence is typically 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 ft) tall,[9] but can measure as much as 8 m (26 ft) tall.[10] The stem supporting the flowering stem is quite thick, with a diameter of 20 to 40 cm (8 to 16 in) and is just 60 to 90 cm (24 to 35 in) tall.[9] When flowering the whole plant may reach as much as 15 m (50 ft),[10] though more typically they are between 8.3 m (27 ft) and 9.5 m (31 ft) in height.[9] Antonio Raimondi estimated the number of blooms as over 8,000 while Anthony Huxley estimated their number at 20,000.[4][11] They are produced over several months starting in May or June and continuing as late as mid-December, though the floral spike will have reached its maximum size by October.[10]

The individual flowers have greenish-white petals that are often somewhat purple.[8] The petals are 6–8 cm long and curve to a bluntly pointed end.[9]

The seeds are ripen over the following months and ready to be spread by the following July.[10] As soon as the seeds are ripe the gigantic plant dies completely.[12] Estimates by Asunción Cano and co-authors are that each plant may produce 12 million seeds.[10] They are contained in round to egg shaped capsules that are 2.5–3 cm long. The seeds are quite small, each one including the wing around its edge is just 3–5 millimeters across.[8] The fruiting stalk is quite rich in resins and therefore the plants burn quite readily.[12]

Its reproductive cycle (and life) 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.[13] It is semelparous, dying after first reproduction. Unlike all other bromeliads it does not reproduce vegetatively and is entirely dependent on the recruitment of a new generation from its seeds.[12]

The plant has been identified to form a close relationship with pollinating birds, and was even hypothesized to be a protocarnivorous plant due to its abilities to ensnare birds in the spiny fronds.[14] However, the adaptations seen in Puya that lead to ensnarement of birds seems most likely to be instead a defense mechanism.[15]

Distribution and habitat

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P. raimondii is native to the Andes of Bolivia and Peru, between 3,000–4,800 m (9,800–15,700 ft) of elevation on shrubby and rocky slopes.[1][16][17][18] 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][13]

Life cycle of Puya raimondii.

Conservation status

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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]

[edit]
  • Leaves
    Leaves
  • Plant
    Plant
  • Inflorescence
    Inflorescence
  • Inflorescence closeup
    Inflorescence closeup
  • Close-up of flower.
    Close-up of flower.
  • Flower dissection
    Flower dissection
  • with Italian botanist Luigi Piacenza
    with Italian botanist Luigi Piacenza

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lambe, A. (2009). "Puya raimondii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009: e.T168358A6482345. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T168358A6482345.en. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  2. ^ Wait, Benjamin A. (1978). "Puya raimondii: Wonder of the Bolivian Andes". Journal of the Bromeliad Society. 28 (5). Bromeliad Society: 200.
  3. ^ a b Cárdenas, Martín (August 2006). "Puya raimondii" (PDF). Bromeliad Society of San Francisco Newsletter. pp. 4–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b Raimondi, Antonio (1874). El Perú [Peru] (in Spanish). Vol. I (First ed.). Lima, Peru: Lima Imprenta del Estado. pp. 295–297. OCLC 4581951. OL 24621917M. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Bosque de Puyas de Raymondi (Titankayoq o Tikankayoq)" [Raymondi Puya Forest (Titankayoq or Tikankayoq)]. Ministerio de Comercio Exterior y Turismo (in Spanish). Government of Perú. 16 February 2011. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Puya raimondii". Encyclopedia of Bromeliads. 4 August 2013. Archived from the original on 19 August 2024. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  7. ^ Vančurová, Jindřiška (23 January 2014). "Puya raimondii Harms – Queen of the Andes, Queen of the Puna". botany.cz. Archived from the original on 28 August 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e Smith, Lyman B.; Downs, Robert Jack (1974). Pitcairnioideae (Bromeliaceae). Flora Neotropica (First ed.). New York: Organization for Flora Neotropica by Hafner Press. pp. 189–190. ISBN 0-02-852491-8. OCLC 835290. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Manzanares, José Manuel (2020). "Puya Bromeliaceae". In Eggli, Urs; Nyffeler, Reto (eds.). Monocotyledons. Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants (Second ed.). Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-56486-8_94. ISBN 978-3-662-56486-8. OCLC 1145609055.
  10. ^ a b c d e Salazar Castillo, J.; Caceres De Baldarrago, Fatima; Poma, Ignazio (2012). "Puya raimondii la regina delle Ande" [Puya raimondii the Queen of the Andes]. Cactus & Co. (in Italian and English). XV: 28–51. ISSN 1129-4299. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  11. ^ Huxley, Anthony Julian (1974). Plant and Planet (First ed.). London: Allen Lane. p. 138. ISBN 978-0-7139-0496-3. OCLC 1231011. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
  12. ^ a b c Rauh, Werner; Lehmann, Herbert; Marnier-Lapostolle, Julien; Oeser, Richard (1990) [1st pub. 1979]. Temple, Peter (ed.). The Bromeliad Lexicon. Translated by Temple, Peter; Kendall, Harvey L. (Second ed.). London: Blandford Press. pp. 17–18. ISBN 978-0-7137-0845-5. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  13. ^ a b SFBG Press (19 July 2006). "Queen of the Andes Blooms at San Francisco Botanical Garden". San Francisco Botanical Garden. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  14. ^ Rees, W. E., & Roe, N. A. (1980). "Puya raimondii (Pitcairnioideae, Bromeliaceae) and birds: an hypothesis on nutrient relationships". Canadian Journal of Botany. 58 (11): 1262–1268. doi:10.1139/b80-157.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Chase, M. W., Christenhusz, M. J., Sanders, D., & Fay, M. F (2009). "Murderous plants: Victorian Gothic, Darwin and modern insights into vegetable carnivory". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (4): 329–356. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2009.01014.x.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Smith, Lyman B.; Downs, Robert Jack (1986). Pitcairnioideae (Bromeliaceae). Flora Neotropica. New York Botanical Garden. pp. 189–190. ISBN 9780893273033.
  17. ^ Montesinos-Tubée, D.B. (2012). INVENTARIO Y ESTADO DE CONSERVACIÓN DE PUYA RAIMONDII (BROMELIACEAE) EN EL DEPARTAMENTO DE MOQUEGUA, PERÚ (in Spanish). Chloris Chilensis. p. 9.
  18. ^ Halle, F.; Oldeman, R. A. A.; Tomlinson, P. B. (2012). Tropical Trees and Forests: An Architectural Analysis. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 104. ISBN 9783642811906.
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