Puya sp. 'Machu Picchu Green' - A medium sized bromeliad to 3 feet tall with 2 foot wide rosettes of 12 to 18 to 24 inch long strap-shaped canaliculate green leaves with spiny margins that blush red when plant comes into flower in mid spring with a dense terminal inflorescence of 1 inch long green flowers that have pink calyces and bracts - pretty showy.
Plant in full to part sun and irrigated occasionally to infrequently. Ultimate frost hardiness unknown but it weathered the January 2007 freeze with 3 nights down to 25° F and this plant comes from a location that can experience temperatures a couple degrees below this.
Puya sp. 'Machu Picchu Green' was grown from seed collected at Machu Picchu, the fortress city of the ancient Incas in Peru at nearly 8,000 feet in elevation. We received seed from two species, one has green foliage and the other has gray. This plant seems to most close resemble Puya densiflora. We received seed from two species and the other smaller plant with gray foliage we list as < href="plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=2810" target="_blank">Puya sp. 'Machu Picchu Gray'. We sold this plant from 2003 until 2004.
The information about Puya sp. 'Machu Picchu Green' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant. |