''Puya'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of the

botanical Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

family

Bromeliaceae The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

. It is the sole genus of the subfamily Puyoideae, and is composed of 226 species. These

terrestrial plant A terrestrial plant is a plant that grows on, in or from land. Other types of plants are aquatic plant, aquatic (living in or on water), semiaquatic (living at edge or seasonally in water), epiphyte, epiphytic (living on other plants), and litho ...

s are native to the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

Mountains of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and southern

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. Many of the species are

monocarpic Monocarpic plants are those that flower and set seeds only once, and then die. The term is derived from Greek (', "single" + , "fruit" or "grain"), and was first used by Alphonse de Candolle. Other terms with the same meaning are '' hapaxanth'' ...

, with the parent plant dying after one flower and seed production event. The species ''

Puya raimondii ''Puya raimondii'', also known as the Queen of the Andes ( English), titanka and ilakuash ( Quechua) or puya de Raimondi ( Spanish), is the largest species of bromeliad, its inflorescences reaching up to in height. It is native to the high Ande ...

'' is notable as the largest species of bromeliad known, reaching 3 m tall in vegetative growth with a

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

spike 9–10 m tall. The other species are also large, with the flower spikes mostly reaching 1–4 m tall. The name ''Puya'' was derived from the Mapuche Indian word meaning "point".

Taxonomy

The genus is commonly divided into two subgenera, ''Puya'', containing eight species, and ''Puyopsis'' containing the remainder. The subgenera can be distinguished by the presence of a sterile

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

at the branch apex in ''Puya'', which are fertile in ''Puyopsis''.

Species

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. History Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...

accepted the following species:

Cultivation and use

Some species of ''Puya'' in Chile, locally known as ''chagual'', are used to make salads from the base of its young leaves or stem. A common species is ''

Puya chilensis ''Puya chilensis'' is a species of terrestrial bromeliad. It is endemic to central Chile. Description An evergreen perennial, it forms large, dense rosettes of grey-green, strap-like leaves edged with hooked spines. The green or yellow flowers a ...

''.

References

External links

''Puya raimondii'' photos
* Pictures o

an

growing in Chile.
BSI Genera Gallery
photos {{Taxonbar, from1=Q133814, from2=Q3926039 Bromeliaceae genera Páramo flora