Use this forum to discuss matters relating to xeric Bromeliads such as Hechtia, Dyckia, Puya, Tillandsia and related species. This is where one posts unknown plant photos for ID help.
I just returned from Chile, and I was lucky enough to be there while three species of Puya were in bloom.
Puya alpestris ssp zoellneri (formerly referred to in error as P. berteroniana)
BVAL3249.JPG (142.84 KiB) Viewed 1510 times
Puya alpestris ssp zoellneri - flowers
XPHK1848.JPG (85.61 KiB) Viewed 1510 times
Puya coerulea var. monteroana
IMG_2798.JPG (219.07 KiB) Viewed 1510 times
Puya coerulea var. monteroana - flowers
IMG_2799.JPG (127.27 KiB) Viewed 1510 times
Puya venusta
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Puya venusta - flowers
IMG_2846.JPG (187.82 KiB) Viewed 1510 times
Additionally, this plant was a favorite of the Giant Hummingbirds, but I've not a clue what it is...it's not a Puya, but thought it may be in the same Family?
Agave
"American aloe plant," 1797, from Greek Agaue, proper name in mythology (mother of Pentheus), from agauos "noble," perhaps from agasthai "wonder at".
"Some talk the talk, others walk the walk, but I stalk the stalk"
Last plant the hummingbirds liked is Phormium tenax (New Zealand flax- not a native of Chile obviously). Those three plants were definitely the more recognizable of the Puyas growing here in California, though the subspecies names were not familiar. There are many 'forms' of Puya alpestris here in botanical gardens though never seen one keyed down past species, and that Puya coerulea with the thin purple flowers looks like what is usually identified here as Puya coerulea var. violacea.
For my taxonomy, I follow the most recent treatment of taxa (at least that I am aware of) from 2013 [Taxonomic revision of the Chilean Puya species (Puyoideae,
Bromeliaceae), with special notes on the Puya alpestris-Puya berteroniana species complex]; flower structure (bract and pedicel lengths) of the P. coerulea fit var. monteroana much more so than var violacea. Locality fit as well, though the two are very close.