Puya gigas André
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Authority
Smith, Lyman B. 1957. The Bromeliaceae of Colombia. Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 33: i-v, 1-311.
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Family
Bromeliaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Description - Densely massed, the flowering plant 6-10 meters high; leaves 1-1.3 meters long, the blades linear, 4 cm. wide, glabrous above, covered with pale appressed scales beneath, rigid, laxly serrate with ascending spines 11 mm. long; scape erect, 5 cm. or more in diameter; scape-bracts densely imbricate, deciduous; inflorescence bipinnate, fusiform; primary bracts disintegrating soon after anthesis, elliptic; racemes 13-15 cm, long including the sterile base, dense; floral bracts broad, about equaling the sepals, dark brown, membranaceous; flowers erect or suberect; pedicels 15-20 mm, long; sepals elliptic, 26 mm, long, membranaceous,
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Discussion
Due to the incompleteness of Andre's records, the dense inflorescence of Puya gigas has been erroneously recorded as simple, but the Foster material from very near the type locality is amply branched while agreeing very closely with the type in habit.