John,
thats one nice grouping of Puya,and a great photo.
But as for the ID,I'm not so sure,having looked at all of posted puya pics on the FCBS.
To me,the closest seems to be P.lanata,but there are a few others there that are 'maybe's.
If its a hybrid,its a winner !
If only we had a bloom spike,it would help narrow it down,but all those plants,and no bloom for 10 years makes one wonder.
Thanks for posting it...makes ones heart beat a little faster ;^)
Bob

(courtesy of fcbs)
Genus: Puya
Name: lanata
Photos: Photo by Frank Sherman
Species/Cultivar: Species
Taxonomic rank: Species
Record #: 1362

And i just asked Laura the cacti propagator at the BBG two weeks ago, what those are. And I think she said Puya caerulea. That's not in stone since the ones I saw in pots had narrower leaves.

Hi,

I saw a plant in a palm collection only a few weeks ago. It had similar colouring, but was growing in a pot, so not quite as impressive as the group in your photo (any pups available?). I think the plant I saw was called P venusta.

Hi again,
Regarding the above, P.carulea,(as well as P.corulea) have long narrow green leaves, but P.venusta is a good possibility,and there is a pic on the fcbs that shows the same silver color,however,the leaves appear longer and narrower than in the jaga photo.But that could be just different growing conditions.Or,as suggested,the plant in question could be a hybrid,and P.venusta may be in the mix.
Whatever,...would love to have one ;)
If definetly ID'd,or it puts up a bloom spike,would appreciate hearing about it.
Bob

Hi all- thanks for all the possibilities. We think a venusta hybrid is a possibility. Very sadly the plant does not belong to us- we too want one- the reason we wanted it identified is so we could look out for them! Last time the owners sold pups of these was about 3 years ago & they were priced at NZ$300, so we had to leave it. They are not selling any more. We post if we catch it in bloom.

One more question John,...are all those clustered individual plants being supported on rather long leafless stems,or branched off of the original plant stem ?
In the pic,they just seem to be floating in the air.
Another Puya,P.laxa developes on a lengthy stem as it grows,and I was wondering if this plant has that same growing habit.
Bob

Sorry Bob, can't verify that from our photos. Our guess is they are branched off the original plant as they are not individuals - we will confirm next time we visit the place. Shows you can never take too many pics- we were just mesmerised by the form & color.