Ephemeral blue
High up in the dry hills of the Chilean Andes you will find an ancient plant called the Sapphire Tower (Puya Alpestris). A distant cousin of the pineapple, this plant is a hermaphrodite—meaning it is both male and female. It’s been here for millions of years and has not changed much.
The Sapphire Tower lives to bloom. The flowers are visible for about a week or two and then the plant dies. Before that happens though, the flowers, dripping with nectar, nourish hummingbirds who in turn help the Sapphire Tower seed the next generation.
This plant invites us to be present so that we can witness the beauty in nature and appreciate the fleeting moments of the earth’s creativity.
Photos by:
Yastay, CC BY-SA 4.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puya\_alpestris\_ssp\_zoellnerii\_04.jpg
Pato Novoa from Valparaíso, Chile, CC BY 2.0
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puya\_alpestris\_ssp\_zoellneri\_-\_Flickr\_-\_Pato\_Novoa.jpg
https://www.earth.com/news/rare-sapphire-tower-plant-puya-alpestris-blooms-first-time-ten-years/