Visitors to the University of California, Berkeley are in for a rare treat while it lasts - the blooming of a Puya raimondii or Andean Queen.
In the wild, these plants, which are native to the Andeas, live for 80 to 100 years before blooming. This particular plant has been growing for 24 years and came from seed brought back from Bolivia by a research expedition. This makes the precocious Berkeley ‘Queen of the Andes’ the youngest blossoming specimen of its species in the world.
The plant's bloom has taken from around the first of May to grow to its current size and, in the next month, the plant could conceivably be covered by more than 30,000 flowers and be 30 feet tall. Once the plant is has bloomed, its mission is over and it dies.
In their native habitat, the Puya raimondii have adapted for cold, dry conditions with bad soil. Here in Berkeley, our advantageous growing conditions have caused the plant to mature more quickly than it otherwise would have.
Events such as the blossoming of one of the world's most exotic plants always create interest in a university or any botanical organization. The Botanical Gardens of UC Berkeley is bound to be in contact with a postcard printing service to preserve this monumental event and enable it to be used for promotional purposes.
