Gouda 2020d (Article) Puya [German]

Puya clava-herculis – the Real One

Author(s):—E.J. Gouda

Publication:—Die Bromelie 2020(1): 16-19. (2020)

German title:—Puya clava-herculis – die Echte

Abstract:—Puya clava-herculis was described by Mez & Sodiroin 1904. The epithet ‘clava-herculis’ refers to the club of Hercules who was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus. This name speaks to your imagination and once noticed, it is not forgotten easily. This is probably the reason why there are so many errors in the use of this name for all kind of Puya with club-like inflorescences, and there are many. For example the images in Die Bromelie 2019(2) about Colombia (part 2) by Andreas Böker (Böker 2019) on page 74 and 75 are not this species at all. The reason of this article is to show you the right species and its characteristics and how you can recognize it easily. For all the other look-alikes it is very difficult to tell, what species it is, without having a specimen at hand.