''Aechmea magdalenae'' is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the Bromeliaceae family. It is also known as ixtle. This species is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, southern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, Colombia and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> The specific epithet ''magdalenae'' comes from the place it was discovered, the Rio Magdalenae Valley in Colombia. The long green leaves feature fierce spines and may reach about 2.5 meters tall. In nature, it is found in moist and swampy woods. The flowers are red and give way to edible fruits. ''A. magdalenae'' uses

crassulacean acid metabolism Crassulacean acid metabolism, also known as CAM photosynthesis, is a carbon fixation pathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions that allows a plant to photosynthesize during the day, but only exchange gases at night. ...

, meaning that it takes in

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

during the night, stores it, and uses it during the day to produce

carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or m ...

s (allowing its stomata to stay closed during the day, which limits water loss). ''Aechmea magdalenae'' is grown in southern

for its silky fibers. It is also harvested from the wild for these fibers and for its edible

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

. Many in Central and northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

use the sap from the leaves to prevent infection in wounds, a practice that is effective because the plant has been found to contain acetic acid, which is strongly antibacterial.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4687297 magdalenae Flora of Central America Flora of Mexico Plants described in 1888 Flora of Colombia Flora of Ecuador Taxa named by Édouard André Taxa named by John Gilbert Baker