Bloom-ing heck! Rare and exotic 工場／植物 brought to Britain more than 20 years ago from the Chilean Andes flowers for the first time
A rare and exotic 工場／植物 taken from the Chilean Andes?more than 20 years ago has flowered for the first time in?Birmingham.
The 外国人-looking Puya alpestris 工場／植物, which can take 10 years to flower, arrived at Birmingham Botanical Gardens two １０年間s ago.
The 見本／標本 is a bromeliad, distantly 関係のある to the pineapple, that relies on hummingbirds to 確実にする its 生き残り in the wild.
But in the Victorian glasshouse in Birmingham - 7,000 miles from Chile - horticulturalists are in a race against time to pollinate the 工場／植物 themselves using a small paintbrush.
The 工場／植物, which is also known as the sapphire tower 予定 to its spectacularly coloured flowering spikes, is native to the 山地の 地域s of central and southern Chile, at elevations of up to 7,200ft.
The rare and exotic 工場／植物 taken from the Chilean Andes more than 20 years ago has flowered for the first time in Birmingham
Alberto Trinco (pictured), 上級の glasshouse horticulturalist, is part of the team in a race against time to pollinate the 工場／植物 themselves using a small paintbrush 予定 to there 存在 no?hummingbirds in the 温室?
The 外国人-looking Puya alpestris 工場／植物, which can take 10 years to flower, arrived at Birmingham Botanical Gardens two １０年間s ago
After the birds pollinate it and the fruits and seeds develop, the mother 工場／植物 slowly dies
The 工場／植物, which is also known as the sapphire tower 予定 to its spectacularly coloured flowering spikes, is native to the 山地の 地域s of central and southern Chile, at elevations of up to 7,200ft
Alberto Trinco said:?'Each flower only last a few days giving only a 限られた／立憲的な window of time for us to give nature a helping 手渡す'
After the birds pollinate it and the fruits and seeds develop, the mother 工場／植物 slowly dies.
Staff at the botanical gardens are using a paintbrush to carefully collect the pollen and hopefully fertilise the 工場／植物 so it produces viable fruits and seeds.
Alberto Trinco, 上級の glasshouse horticulturalist, said: 'Each flower only last a few days giving only a 限られた／立憲的な window of time for us to give nature a helping 手渡す: in the absence of its natural pollinators, we will 試みる／企てる some human pollination instead.
'The 工場／植物 arrived here more than 20 years ago. It is 極端に slow growing so to 証言，証人／目撃する its みごたえのある blooms is very exciting and rare.
'Hopefully pollinating the flowers with the 小衝突 to 得る seeds will 許す us to 安全な・保証する the presence of this amazing 種類 in our collection for 未来 世代s to come and admire.'
The Grade II 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）d 場所／位置 is home to 7,000 工場／植物s and trees.
This year the botanical gardens is 乗る，着手するing on a transformational £14m 事業／計画（する） - Growing our Green 遺産 - to 回復する the historic glasshouses, 改善する the 場所／位置 組織／基盤／下部構造 and 増加する the public understanding of the importance of 工場／植物 biodiversity.
