What an amazing thing!

When we were in the Botanic gardens yesterday we noticed this amazing plant surrounded by a crowd of people. I had to go back and get a photo of it, without the crowd, because I have never seen anything like it. I have seen agaves and yuccas before and this seems to be the same sort of thing. It must have been at least 9 feet tall and rose out of a nest of strappy leaves. The label said it is a Puya native to Chile. The spikes reminded me of asparagus.