Tas. 8194. 
PUYA VIOLACEA. 
Chile. 
de 
BROMELIACEAE. . 
Poya, Molina; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Plant. vol. ii. p.666; Mez in DC. Monogr. 
itl Phaner. vol. ix. p. 466. 
Puya violacea, Mez in DC. Monogr. Phaner. vol. ix. p. 476; species P. 
caeruleae, Lindl, (Bot. Reg. vol. xxvi. t. 11) valde affinis, differt bracteis 
floralibus multo minoribus integris et floribus minoribus. 
Planta perennis, florigera circiter metralis, caule pauciramoso brevi. Yolia 
numerosa, conferta, rigida, linearia, maxima vix 0°5 m. longa, longissime 
filiformi-acuminata, margine aculeis inter se 1-2 em. distantibus sursum 
spectantibus armata, striata, dorso minute obscurissimeque lepidota, 
lepidibus stellatis. J/nflorescen/ia terminalis, erecta, pinnatim paniculata, 
45-50 cm. alta; scapus graciliusculus, bracteis linearibus 3-4 cm. longis 
acutis marcescentibus fuscis per totam fere longitudinem vestitus ; rami 
laterales circiter 12, quaquaversi, patentes vel deflexi, 15-20 em. longi, 
usque 25-flori. Practeae florigerae ut in scapo, calyce breviores, glabrae 
vel glabrescentes. Flores spiraliter dispositi, breviter pedicellati, inter se 
demum 0-5-1 cm. distantes, circiter 6 cm. longi. Sepala 8, viridia, lanceo- 
lata, circiter 3 cm. longa, acuta, persistentia. Pctala 3, violacea, oblongo- 
spathulata, circiter 6 cm. longa, apice obtusa, breviter recurva, intus basi 
2-squamata. Stamina 6, petala subaequantia, antheris luteis vel auran- 
tiacis. Stylus inclusus. Capsula “ perfecta ellipsoidea, circiter 1-5 cm, 
longa, nitida, apice obtusa, et septicide et loculicide in partes 6 dehiscens. 
Semina 3 mm. longa, cuneiformia, dorso apiceque anguste alata ” (Mez).— 
Pitcairnia violacea, Brongn. in Ann. Fl. et Pomon. 1847, vol. i. p. 116, 
cum fig.; Baker, Brom. p. 118. Pourretia violacea, Linden Cat. 1853, n. 8, 
p. 81. Puya paniculata, Philippi, in Linnaea, vol. xxiii. p. 247. Pitcairnia 
Philippii, Baker, Brom. p. 122. 
The Annales de Flore et de Pomone, in which Puya 
(Piteairnia) violacea was first published, are not in the 
Kew library, but from an extract from the same in Otto and 
Dietrich’s Allgemeine Gartenzeitung, 1847, vol. xv. p. 299, it 
appears that Puya violacea was first raised from seed in the 
Jardin des Plantes, Paris, in 1833 and flowered for the first 
time at Neuilly in 1847, a long time to wait for flowers, 
though they are brilliant when they do appear. But many 
Bromeliaceae flower only once or at distant intervals. The 
conflicting views of different writers on some of the genera 
of the Bromeliaceae are somewhat puzzling. Bentham and 
Hooker retain Pitcairnia, Puya (including Pourretia) and 
May, 1908. 
