Puya Raimondii, A SEED'S QUEST FOR UNIVERSAL TRUTHS
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About the Book
This is a story of a little Puya Raimondii seed that has consciousness and insight. She wants to know who she is and what she will become, if she makes it alive. After being trapped in a straw of grass in the Altiplano for a few weeks, she gets rescued by Celestina, a young pastorcita, (or little Shepherd), about 11 years old, who helps her to understand what she is and what she will become. Celestina resembles a pre-teen Indian country girl wearing typical clothes from the region.
The little seed, Puya for short encounters some adventures and gains much wisdom even before making it onto safe ground to start her development. Eventually, Puya spends her life spreading her wisdom to other living seeds and living creatures and becomes an inspiration to some people, like Justina’s family, for at least two generations.
Justina and her family, are knowledgeable on the fine inter-exchange between humans and their environment. They are also caring people, which gives a hopeful color to the story for people concerned about the Puya Raimondii plant and its danger of extinction.
Because the plant is native to Bolivia and Peru and I’m familiar with the territory, I wanted to give the reader a sense of what the Andes mountains, the Altiplano, the Illimani and the Bolivian culture are about. I also introduce the sound of quenas, a flute-like instrument typical of the region.
Overall, this is a story inspired by a personal call to free and empower the 40 year old sleepy writer in me. I'd chosen the Puya Raimondii character because it wasn’t until I reached the age of 37 years, (a resident of La Paz-Bolivia for 26 years), that I’d learned about this magnificent spike-like beauty that my eyes have never seen yet. However, when I’d seen a picture of it and learned about it, I was so amazed that I wanted to spread the word to many children and adults and share my amazement with all of you. The Puya Raimondii is a magnificent plant, and several parks in the USA have adopted them and are helping them to reproduce in their National Parks because this is a plant in danger of extinction. People throw stones at the mature plant, provoking the process of self-ignition before the Puya has completed its life cycle.
“A most unusual plant on the Altiplano is the Puya Raimondii. In Bolivia it grows in only within a narrow range of altitude on the rocky slopes of the mountains and is the tallest flower spike in the world. Its full height is 30 feet (9.14 meters). It flowers once in its 100-year lifetime, and then dies. When in bloom, the puya has 8,000 blossoms and makes a good nesting place for birds. The stem of the dead plant is used as fuel.”
“Enchantment of the World, BOLIVIA”. By Marion Morrison. Children’s press, Chicago, 1988.
“This prehistoric survivor is one of the most dramatic plants to be found in Bolivia. It survives in small pockets in Comanche (which has the largest and healthiest population), Peru and parts of the Cordillera de Vacas. The life cycle of Puya Raimondii goes something like this: A little seed is blown from the parent plant by fierce winds that rip around the mountain. It lands in very rocky terrain, or in the cracks between rocks somewhere between 3,800 and 4,200 m (nothing else will do, this is a very fussy plant) and takes root. Over the next 100 years it slowly matures into a robust but nondescript cactus bush with a root system covering an area with a radius of at least 16 m. Then at some hidden and mysterious signal, the Puya blossoms. A huge spear of flowers is sent shooting into the air, reaching a height of 12 m in only 30 days. The flowers bloom, little birds make their nests in between the flower stalks and the plant starts secreting a highl
About the Author
Puya Raimondii, "A Seed's Quest For Universal Truths" was born as an idea about 4 years before its publication and it was inspired by an article about this spiked unique plant whose origin is the author's home land of birth, La Paz-Bolivia. The thread of life's little coincidences gets represented nicely in Puya's quest. She is an inquisitive being that can't wait to understands what life is about, what little beings like her grow & change and how they fit with the rest of creation. Puya is charming, warm and a very insightful being that appeals to children as much as adults. Juana Asbun Power is the author of other books, fiction and non fiction.