The Biggest Bromeliad Flower by Gerald Krulik

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38. The Biggest Bromeliad Flower, PUP TALK (Saddleback Valley
Bromeliad Society), 14(2) p.4-6, February , 2007. By Gerald Krulik

Here are some photos I took in May 2006 in the Philippines. They show a fruiting
plant with two younger plants; the fruit cluster; and two more close-ups. There
are 8 species in this genus, but I think that this is the largest, the Talipot palm.

So what about the biggest bromeliad? As you might expect, the very biggest are
the terrestrial types, in the genus Puya. There are about 160 to 180 named
species from southern Central America to the Andes Mountains of South
America. The very largest is also monocarpic, like many bromeliads. Unlike many
other bromeliads, this huge Puya raimondii does not cluster after flowering.

The flower spike is truly huge. It can reach 9-10 (some say 12) meters (30-33
feet) as a massively thick upright spear, surpassing even the mighty Talipot
Palm in length. However, the flowers are only arranged thickly against the
length of the flower stalk. This is borne on top of a plant that can be itself 3
meters (10 ft) tall and 3-4 meters (12-16 feet) wide. In the wild, it is speculated
that it takes 80 to 100 years to flower (does this sound like the Agave Century
Plant legend?). Cultivated plants may be quicker, as at the UC Berkeley Botanic
Garden a plant flowered from seed in only 28 years. (6,7,8). The next photo is
from reference (8).

8. Puya Raimondii www.andesorgphoto.com

                                The photo left is from Dr. Alfred Lau.
                                   I took a photo of his slide during one of
                                   his talks. (9) This was taken with a digital
                                   camera with no flash, so is a little blurry.
                                   But this is the best photo I have seen to
                                   show the actual massiveness of the Puya
                                   raimondii inflorescence.

Lastly, here are dead plants after
flowering, (10). They do not cluster,
unfortunately.) These plants are dead or
dying, and dispersing seeds.

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