Puya Raimondii Forest

Puya raimondii is the largest bromeliad in the world - a rosette of spined leaves two or three metres across that sits on the puna for decades, then throws up a flower spike eight to twelve metres tall carrying several thousand flowers, is pollinated, sets millions of seeds and dies. The plant may be eighty to a hundred years old when it does this, and it does it once. The Pachacoto sector of Huascarán National Park holds one of the largest surviving stands, thousands of plants scattered across the puna between 3,800 and 4,500 metres on the road towards Pastoruri, and it is normally visited as a stop on that trip. Flowering individuals are scattered through the population, so there are usually a few spikes standing among the rosettes at any time, most in the middle of the year. The species is endangered: fire, grazing and a warming climate all reduce it, and it grows only in a few areas of Peru and Bolivia.

The landscape

• The rosettes - spined leaf clusters two to three metres across on open puna.
• The flower spikes - eight to twelve metres tall, several thousand flowers each.
• The one-time bloom - plants flower once at around eighty to a hundred years old, then die.
• The stand - thousands of plants, one of the largest left anywhere.

When to go

May to September for road conditions; flowering spikes are most common from around May to July. Two to three hours, usually combined with Pastoruri.

What to expect

Whether a spike is in flower is luck - outside the peak you may see only rosettes. Between 3,800 and 4,500 metres, cold and exposed. The species is endangered and the stands are fenced in places; stay on the marked paths.

Nearby

Pastoruri glacier is further along the same road; Catac and Huaraz are north.