Bromeliaceae FAMILY

Puya chilensis

Edibility

3/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Puya chilensis is an evergreen perennial that can grow around 2 metres tall with large flowering stems up to 5 metres long[ 330 Title ChileFlora Publication Author Website http://www.chileflora.com/index.html Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description Not realy a flora, but a lovely site with lots of helpful information for the gardener and an abundance of excellent photos covering over 2,000 species of Chilean plants. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials. The young shoots are sold as a food in local markets and the plant is grown as an ornamental[ 1438 Title Food Plants in the Americas: A Survey of the Domesticated, Cultivated, and Wild Plants Used for Human Food in North, Publication Author Kermath B.M.; Bennett B.C.' Pulsipher L.M. Publisher Year 2014 ISBN Description A pre-publication draft of an amazing, on-going work first started in 1985. It contains information on more than 3,900 taxa from the Americas - from Arctic regions to the Tropics ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintemperate

Native RangeS. America - central Chile.

HabitatArid hillsides in the Andes, often spreading across large areas[ 260 Title Conservatory and Indoor Plants Volumes 1 & 2 Publication Author Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Publisher Pan Books, London. Year 1998 ISBN 0-330-37376-5 Description Excellent photos of over 1,100 species and cultivars with habits and cultivation details plus a few plant uses. Many species are too tender for outdoors in Britain though there are many that can be grown outside. ].