Puya mirabilis

This is a very nice, compact, and low thorn Puya.  Also a must for those of us with a fetish for chartreuse or green flowers.

I love the contrast of the dark brown and light green.

The old flowers also do a neat twist/cork screw effect as they whither away.  I have pollinated these and grown many from seed.

One more flower...

Unlike the first Puyas I tried these are small 1 foot rosettes, not the hughe 5 foot clumps of Puya berteroniana.  Though P. berteroniana has almost more amazing blue flowers with orange pollen--it is just full of razor sharp teeth on every blade and too big for me.  This one has some teeth, but just small and only a bit painful and only if you grabbed a handful.

If you can handle aloes and agave you wouldn't be bothered by this.  So don't think all Puya are death traps...  The P. berteroniana has myths told about it ensnaring small animals in its thorns and benefiting from the added nourishment--that is not this plant at all.  Sorry I probably should not perpetuate what I bet is not true for any Puya, but some really are that sharp and the thorns angle just that way so that what gets in really can't pull back out.

This this is now my only Puya.  I just visit the big guys at the S.F. Arboretum!   

Stats:

• Native to Bolivia
• Blooms in about a year after planting, 2 from seed--not the decade of some Puyas
• About 1 foot by 1 foot, maybe 2 with time
• Hardy to 20 degrees...  Has survived for me in wet winters and frosts in the 28 degree F, but I suspect best hardiness is to keep it dry and not wet all the time.