A spectacular premiere at the ÖBG

A botanical rarity is currently on display at the University of Bayreuth’s Ecological-Botanical Garden (ÖBG): a Chilean puya (Puya chilensis) is flowering there for the first time. Native to the arid mountainous regions of central Chile, this plant – which is related to bromeliads and pineapples – takes several decades to reach flowering stage. The Bayreuth specimen is almost 40 years old and is currently developing an impressive inflorescence standing two and a half metres tall.

The flowering is not only an extraordinary event for visitors to the ÖBG. A flowering Puya chilensis is likely to be a rarity in other botanical gardens too. According to a recent search of the international database Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), the species is cultivated in only a few botanical gardens in Germany.

Too big for the greenhouse

The plant grows in the ÖBG’s Tropical High-Altitude Greenhouse, a facility unique in Germany. Plants from tropical high-altitude regions are cultivated there; these require plenty of light and are subject to significant day-night temperature fluctuations – in their natural habitat, they experience frost every night. This climate is simulated in our unique greenhouse. 

However, the fact that the Chilean Puya is thriving here and is now flowering for the first time presented the garden team with a challenge: the inflorescence is now taller than the greenhouse itself. To allow it to develop unhindered, a circular opening was cut specifically into the greenhouse’s glass roof. The flower panicle now protrudes through this opening.

Puya chilensis grows in its native habitat in the dry mountainous regions of central Chile. Its tough, grey-green leaves have sturdy, backward-curving spines along their edges. These serve as protection against herbivores, but can also cause serious injury to grazing animals such as sheep. The numerous yellow-green flowers, with their bright orange-red stamens, are particularly decorative. They produce abundant nectar and are visited in Chile by birds and insects, particularly the Chilean mockingthrush (Mimus thenca). At the ÖBG, the gardeners pollinate the flowers by hand in the hope that the plant will produce fruit and seeds, from which new plants can be cultivated.

A truly unique spectacle

The Chilean puya belongs to the so-called hapaxanthous species: after fruiting, the flowering rosette dies off. Before this happens, however, it usually produces daughter rosettes, which ensure the plant’s survival. The current flowering is therefore a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle that will not be repeated on this plant. Anyone wishing to witness this flowering event should visit the Ecological-Botanical Garden at the University of Bayreuth in the coming weeks. As this is the first time this species has flowered at the Ecological-Botanical Garden, we do not know how long it will flower for or how tall the inflorescence will grow.

Extended opening hours and a guided tour at the ÖBG

To mark the occasion, the ÖBG at the University of Bayreuth will keep its greenhouses open until 6 pm on Wednesday 9 September 2026. Between 4 pm and 6 pm, ÖBG staff will be on hand at the greenhouse to provide information about the Chilean puya and other interesting plants in the Tropical High-Altitude Greenhouse. Admission is free.