71 
PUYA heterophylla. 
Various-leaved Puya. 
-— —"m——— —— 
HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Nat. ord. BROMELIACEX. 
PUYA. Botanical Register, 1840. fol. 11. 
A. heterophylla ; bulbosa, foliis primordialibus basi coriaceis concavis dila- 
tatis sursúm subulatis corneis spinosis serratis; secundariis teneris lan- 
ceolatis inermibus multô longioribus parcissimê pruinosis, spicâ sim- 
plici sessili imbricata foliis multó breviore, bracteis lanatis calycibus 
brevioribus. 
Sepala lineari-lanceolata, cornea, acuminata, carinata, sublanata, petalis 
breviora. Petala carnea, ligulata, convoluta, basi squamá duplici serratá in- 
structa. Stamina 6, basi perianthii inserta; antheris linearibus. Ovarium. 
basi immersum, maxima pro parte liberum, triangulare, pyramidatum, 3-locu- 
lare, polyspermum ; stylo filiformi ; stigmatibus convolutis. 
— 
A very pretty plant, evidently belonging to the genus 
Puya, and most remarkable for bearing two kinds of leaves. 
Those at the base of the plant arise from tough, concave, 
broad, horny petioles, which overlie each other, forming a 
kind of bulb, and are extended into narrow, hard, serrated, 
spiny, brown processes about two inches long. The leaves, 
on the other hand, which are last formed, are thin, lanceolate, 
bright green, and more than eighteen inches long when full 
grown, and bear no resemblance to the first. The flowers are 
arranged in a close, oblong spike, composed of imbricated 
woolly cartilaginous pale green bracts, veg Steg the centre 
of a bulb of spiny leaves in the place of the thin leaves before 
mentioned. 
I am indebted for my knowledge of it to John Rogers, Esq. 
Jun. of Sevenoaks, with whom it flowered in May 1840, and 
who has given me the following memorandum concerning its 
history and habits. 
December, 1840. 2B 
