Puya gilmartinii exhibits a saxicolous habit in a small area in the coastal desert (fig. 6). The populations are limited to about twenty individuals. Although P. chilensis grows in the same general area as P. gilmartinii, populations of these taxa are not intermingled. The suite of similarities and differences in morphological traits may suggest an instance of hybridization involving P. boliviensis, P. chilensis, and P. gilmartinii. Their geographic distributions (Varadarajan 1989) further support the idea of hybridization in the past. This suggestion, however, is not to cast doubt on the identity, validity, or taxonomic rank of the new species. —SeeVaradarajan & Flores 1990p. 40(4): 161-165
-Distribution and ecology: Endemic to central Chile, known only from Region IV (29°16’–29°39’S). Grows in coastal scrub vegetation between 50 and 520 m.
Conservation: Critically endangered (Zizka et al., 2009). —SeeZizka et al. 2013
