Puya raimondii. A striking peruvian plant

Puya raimondii. A striking plant

Puya raimondii, scientific name Titanca puja, is endemic to the Andean highlands of Bolivia and Peru that grows between 3200 and 4800 m. Originally it was given the scientific name of Pourretia gigantea.

 

The Puya raimondii was first discovered in 1830 by French scientist Alcide d'Orbigny (1802-1857), in the region of Vacas, Bolivia. Subsequently, the Italian naturalist Antonio Raimondi (1826-1890) discovered at the Chavin Huántar area during his travels in Peru, and in 1874 was the first to assign the scientific name for the plant, calling Pourretia gigantea, changed in 1928 by the German botanist Hermann Harms (1870-1942) by Puya raimondii Harms.

 

 

 

Description
It is the largest species of the genus Puya and Bromeliaceae. It can reach 3-4 m tall in vegetative growth, and up to 12 m. tall with the inflorescence, produces clusters up to 8000 flowers and 6 million seeds per plant. It can live over 100 years. It is a species that dies after flowering (monocarpic) and seeds are his only means of propagation. You can see it flourish in the months of October to December.

 

 

Known as "Titanca" is one of the most impressive plants that exists on earth. Pineapple Pariente, has several features that make it unique. For decades, its spiny leaves grow up to appear in the distance, a giant maguey (“agave” in other parts of the world), which can measure up to four meters high, and that in itself is a unusual sight in the arid plain of the highlands; above 4000 m.

 

Then suddenly starts growing inflorescence, reaching eight to ten feet high. There is no greater on the planet (produced 5000 flowers) inflorescence. It is said that when the plant blooms only get to meet the one hundred years old, and after releasing their seeds (produced 6'000, 000 seed) the plant dies.

The titancas grow in "forests", for lack of a better name to describe the spaces located in the highlands, in which it develops. The best known is in the reserve forest of Huascaran National Park, Ancash department.

Current Status

It is considered a species at risk. There stands Puya raimondii in Moquegua, Junin, Huancavelica, Ayacucho, Ancash, Apurimac, Cusco, Arequipa, Puno and La Libertad.

The world's largest forest of Puya Raimondi is three hours Huamanga in Ayacucho. Unfortunately, this gift of nature, called Titankayocc, is in danger of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The main threats are illegal logging without reforestation, fire repeated to generate or maintain pastures, agricultural expansion, overgrazing, pet food also burns at its base as the sheep are engaged in hard spines of the leaves as fuel or building material by local populations, and by the climate change.

The declaration of the Reserve and the National Shrine of Capiluy, Huascaran National Park, the Nor Yauyos Cochas and Pampa Galeras National Reserve-Barbara D'Achille to protect this amazing plant. In late 2010, the Forest of Puya Raimondi-Titankayocc was declared as new  protected area in the department of Ayacucho. It is the largest and dense forest Peru of puja.

References

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puya_raimondii

http://peru21.pe/noticia/665840/peligra-bosque-puya-raimondi

http://ivanlariva.blogspot.com/2010/08/de-los-andes-la-costa-entre-guanacos-y.html#!/2010/08/de-los-andes-la-costa-entre-guanacos-y.html

http://www.sernanp.gob.pe/sernanp/contenido.jsp?ID=649