The southern section is rainy and cool, the central Andes are dry.
It is known from three collections in the central and northern Andes.
It occurs at upper elevations in the central Andes of Colombia.
It is migratory, wintering around the central Andes in South America.
They also share many of these with the Aymara, or other indigenous peoples of the central Andes.
The plant was brought into cultivation in the central and southern Andes for its tubers, which are used as a root vegetable.
The majority of the human population of the central Andes, including most major cities, large towns, and agriculture, are found in these valleys.
In the central Andes there has probably been more or less continuous subduction since the Mesozoic.
There appears to be a clear distinction between the causes of uplift on the western and eastern sides of the central Andes.
Early cultures in the central Andes seem to have been less centralised and far less militaristic.