Ismene amancaes “amancay” is a bulbose species typical of the central coast vegetation of Peru called “lomas”. This species sprouts in June during the beginning of the winter-fog period. It has large yellow, aromatic flowers valued for their ornamental value. Our goal was to examine the reproductive development of Ismene amancaes in its natural environment, and we recorded monthly observations during a yearlong study. Observations of the interior of the bulbs allowed recording of the beginning of floral bud formation and development, relating them to leaf formation and edaphic humidity. We found that the first floral buds develop the year before their emergence in December, reaching a maximum number of floral buds in February, during the Summer. Floral bud differentiation starts after leaves that will emerge the following year have developed. This occurs during a period of maximu...

Lepidium meyenii Walp. (Brasicaceae) “maca” is an Andean plant appreciated for its hypocotil which has high medical and nutritional value, and among these, its high iron content. In order to test the possibility of increasing the iron content, an experiment was carried out at greenhouse conditions in Lima, Peru, from May to November 1999, in which solutions containing three levels of natural iron (5, 15 and 25 ppm) were used to grow maca. Seeds of accession ARB5441 (CIP) were used. The iron content was measured after 50 and 179 days of treatment (dat) by the phenantroline method. Meaningful differences were found in the iron content in leaves and the hypocotil after 50 dat, which increased with the concentration of iron in the solutions, whereas at 179 this trend was noticed only for leaves. The concentration of iron in the hypocotil for each treatment do not increase in time whereas...

Puya raimondii Harms is an endemic especie of the highlands of Peru and Bolivia, whose population and area of distribution are being reduced. Aiming at contributing to the knowledge of the mechanisms of propagation of this species, a study of the effects of the illumination and stratification on the germination of the seed was carried out. The seed was collected in the rodal of Puya raimondii in Huashta Cruz (Pueblo Libre, Ancash) in December 1999 and were stored under laboratory conditions in Lima until the tests. The seeds were desinfected with sodium hipochloride 2,6% and for the germination test seeds were placed in petri dishes with distilled and sterilized water during 2000. The preliminary results show that the seed of Puya raimondii has a high percentage and velocity of germination when exposed to light. A similar effect was achieved by stratifying them for two months at 11 °C o...

Ismene amancaes “amancay” is a bulbose species typical of the central coast vegetation of Peru called “lomas”. This species sprouts in June during the beginning of the winter-fog period. It has large yellow, aromatic flowers valued for their ornamental value. Our goal was to examine the reproductive development of Ismene amancaes in its natural environment, and we recorded monthly observations during a yearlong study. Observations of the interior of the bulbs allowed recording of the beginning of floral bud formation and development, relating them to leaf formation and edaphic humidity. We found that the first floral buds develop the year before their emergence in December, reaching a maximum number of floral buds in February, during the Summer. Floral bud differentiation starts after leaves that will emerge the following year have developed. This occurs during a period of maximu...

Lepidium meyenii Walp. (Brasicaceae) “maca” is an Andean plant appreciated for its hypocotil which has high medical and nutritional value, and among these, its high iron content. In order to test the possibility of increasing the iron content, an experiment was carried out at greenhouse conditions in Lima, Peru, from May to November 1999, in which solutions containing three levels of natural iron (5, 15 and 25 ppm) were used to grow maca. Seeds of accession ARB5441 (CIP) were used. The iron content was measured after 50 and 179 days of treatment (dat) by the phenantroline method. Meaningful differences were found in the iron content in leaves and the hypocotil after 50 dat, which increased with the concentration of iron in the solutions, whereas at 179 this trend was noticed only for leaves. The concentration of iron in the hypocotil for each treatment do not increase in time whereas...

Puya raimondii Harms is an endemic especie of the highlands of Peru and Bolivia, whose population and area of distribution are being reduced. Aiming at contributing to the knowledge of the mechanisms of propagation of this species, a study of the effects of the illumination and stratification on the germination of the seed was carried out. The seed was collected in the rodal of Puya raimondii in Huashta Cruz (Pueblo Libre, Ancash) in December 1999 and were stored under laboratory conditions in Lima until the tests. The seeds were desinfected with sodium hipochloride 2,6% and for the germination test seeds were placed in petri dishes with distilled and sterilized water during 2000. The preliminary results show that the seed of Puya raimondii has a high percentage and velocity of germination when exposed to light. A similar effect was achieved by stratifying them for two months at 11 °C o...

Puya raimondii is an endemic species from the high Andes of Peru and Bolivia. In Peru it is distributed from 8.068501°S, 16.170280°W to 16.180580°S, 70.658873°W, between 3600 and 4800 m, living in extreme climatic conditions typical of the Puna, where it plays an important ecological role. Despite the wide distribution of P. raimondii populations in Peru, they appear to be fairly uniform morphologically. The following questions arise: Will the current molecular tools be able to show differences between the numerous populations? Are the conservation areas established for P. raimondii sufficient since they harbor the existing variability? To answer these questions, this work aimed to evaluate the genetic diversity and genetic structure in a northern population, Pachapaqui (Ancash department), a central population, Yanacancha (Junin), and a southern population, Lampa - Choconchaca secto...