Samstag, 27. Juni 2015

BK10511.1 Trichocereus vollianus, between Arani & Rodeo, Cochabamba, Bolivia

BK10511.1 Trichocereus vollianus, between Arani & Rodeo, Cochabamba, Bolivia


Copyright: Ben Kamm, Sacredsucculents.com


This is a very interesting plant and there arent so many descriptions available about it. This plant was encountered during the 2010 field trip. I am not sure if the ID is correct but I´ll add the description now and maybe we can get to the bottom of it. This plant has a lot of similarities to Trichocereus Lamprochlorus, which grows in Cochabamba in Bolivia too. The original description of this plant came from Backeberg in his book KAKTUS-ABC. The original typus location was said to be Arque in Cochabamba. The shoots have a maximum diameter of up to 10 centimeters, approximately 13 ribs and a very bright green yellow color. The epidermis of this plant has similarities to Trichocereus Spachianus, which has a very bright green color too. The ribs are 7 mm broad and are up to 5 mm high. The areoles are approx. 2-2,5 cm apart from each other. The plant has 7-12 radial spines and very fine and thin spines that can get up to 7 mm long. There usually is only one middle spine which can reach a lenght of 2,5 cm. All spines are yellow colored (Backeberg used the term “Amber”).


Flowers: The flowers of Trichocereus Vollianus are white and up to 12 cm long. However, I assume that the flowers depend greatly on the health of the plant and larger flowers wouldnt come as a surprise to me.


Fruit: Green and very hairy.


How to keep it apart from Trichocereus Spachianus?: Trichocereus Vollianus is very similar to Trichocereus Spachianus but thicker, even more shiny and has a brighter green epidermis. Backeberg also mentioned that they work very well as a grafting stock.


There also was a Trichocereus Vollianus var. Rubrispinus with reddish spines, which would probably be regarded as nothing but a local form under modern taxonomy. I encountered populations that had all kinds of forms growing together and this kind of stuff isnt really enough to justify a new species. I own a plant that I suspect to be Trichocereus Vollianus and I will post some pics of it soon.


Where to get seeds of Trichocereus Vollianus?: Well, it´s definitely a rare species. Sacred Succulents collected some seeds and gave them away under the name mentioned above but apart from that, there are very few sources that provide VIABLE seed. I still have some Seeds from Köhres but couldnt get them to germinate. Succeed had them every now and then and it´s worth a try to ask Sacred Succulents because they probably grew some from the seeds they collected. You could also make a posting in our Trichocereus Facebook group because I know of some people who were able to get some seeds back when they were sold by Sacred Succulents. Definitely an interesting plant!


263 BK10511


264 BK10511


265 BK10511



BK10511.1 Trichocereus vollianus, between Arani & Rodeo, Cochabamba, Bolivia

Keine Kommentare:

Kommentar veröffentlichen