Exotic Plant's Once-a-Century Bloom in Pictures

Flower Feast

Photograph by Juan Karita, AP

Some field studies suggest that Queen of the Andes plants get additional nutrients from the droppings of birds, which feast on the plant's rare flowers, as seen in a picture taken November 10. Hungry birds sometimes get stuck in the plant's prickly foliage, which is essentially an assemblage of inward-curving "claws."

"If you stick your hand into one of these things, it can get ripped to shreds if you pull it out without great care," Lambe said. Some local people loathe the plant, because they've heard reports of sheep or other livestock becoming similarly ensnared, he added. (See "Spiders, Carnivorous Plants Compete for Food—A First.")

Even so, young Queen of the Andes plants have their own troubles: The plants are routinely trampled or eaten by livestock and burned for agriculture.

Published November 17, 2010

Bloom Close-Up

Photograph by Juan Karita, AP

Queen of the Andes plants are found only in Peru and Bolivia at altitudes between 9,800 and 15,750 feet (3,000 and 4,800 meters).

"Conditions there are so barren that [the plant] needs time to build up the resources with which it produces the flowering and reproduces," Lambe said. "That's why it's so slow and takes 50 or 100 years."

But the plant's one-time flowering, as pictured last week, is very fruitful: A single plant can produce up to ten million seeds.

(See "Orchid Has 'Active' Sex With Itself—A Flower First?")

Published November 17, 2010

Solitary Queen

Photograph by Juan Karita, AP

Queen of the Andes plants, like the ones seen above near Thumi, Bolivia, are typically found in small, isolated pockets of a few hundred individuals.

Such spotty distribution prevents the plants from mixing genes, making them more vulnerable to the arrival of diseases, parasites, and predators associated with climate change, Lambe noted. (Related: "Plants 'Climbing' Mountains Due to Global Warming.")

For now Peru hosts about 800,000 plants, while Bolivia has 35,000—but these numbers are decreasing, according to the IUCN.

Published November 17, 2010