The Puya Raymondi is a giant bromeliad that can grow up to 10 m (33ft) high. Bromeliads are best known as small houseplants and are related to the pineapple. In English it’s called the Queen of the Andes and it’s one of the oldest plants still alive on earth and sometimes referred to as a “living fossil.”

It’s takes about 100 years for the plant to reach adulthood, but when they do they can produce about 8,000 flowers at a time. This obviously makes them very valuable for the birds and insects in their habitat, especially for hummingbirds which do most of the plant’s pollination.

Transport

It’s about a 2 hour drive south from Ayacucho to get to an area called “Area de Conservación Natural Titankayocc.” It’s only half an hour north of Vilcashuamán, which is a great place to stay if you want to spend most of the day hiking around Titankayocc.