Trichocereus Peruvianus "Huanuco or Ayacucho"

Trichocereus Peruvianus „Huanuco or Ayacucho“

Hi Guys, another cool Trichocereus peruvianus. Similar plants are shown in Trout´s San Pedro book on page 179, though that´s not the same plant. The ones in Trout´s book go back to Middleton, who collected two almost identical types around Ayacucho and Huanuco. But since there were other collectors that were collecting and selling seeds from this area in Peru too, it´s pretty much impossible to track this plant back to a certain collector/wholesaler. Believe me, I tried! Most of the labels are usually lost after one generation, which was the case with this plant too. I got this for my shop from another grower because I saw something special in it and this is only the second one from that area that I came across in five years. Please note that this type is NOT the same as Trichocereus huanucoensis (though it´s from that area too and has similar V-notches), which is more like some broad ribbed version of Trichocereus Pachanoi while this one rather is some kind of a non-Cuzcoensis Peruvianus. Have a look at the weird shield-shaped areoles, the strong Huanucoensis-like V-notches and that one spine that´s usually pointing up or down. It has no (!) swollen spine bases and a totally funky areole shape, that looks similar to the one on Trichocereus Knuthianus. Really interesting Trichocereus. 

https://trichocereus.net/trichocereus-peruvianus-echinopsis-peruviana

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Trichocereus Peruvianus from the Lurin Valley

Trichocereus Peruvianus from the Lurin Valley

This is a very interesting Trichocereus that I don´t have a lot of information about. All I know is that the mother plant is growing near the Rio Lurin in Peru. Those plants are extraordinarily beautiful types and the seedlings turn out to be extremely strong growers. It´s the best quality of seed that I ever came across and you´ll be amazed about the strong seedlings that will grow from this type of seed.

I am currently not sure whether or not this type belongs more into the Peruvianus or into the Cuzcoensis group. All the pics that I´ve of the motherplants point towards the Peruvianus direction, though it is possible they might have some traits that occur on Cuzcoensis too.

30 Seeds – 3 Euro

Trichocereus Peruvianus from the Lurin Valley

Trichocereus Knuthianus / Echinopsis Knuthiana - Seeds

Trichocereus Knuthianus / Echinopsis Knuthiana – Seeds

I am happy that I can offer you viable seeds of Trichocereus Knuthianus. It´s a relative of Trichocereus Cuzcoensis and Trichocereus Peruvianus and was originally discovered by Friedrich Ritter. After him offering the seeds in his „Hilde Winter Seedlists“ in the 60s and 70s, this plant was never really commercially available until now.

Those seeds that were collected in the Tarma area grow into a plant that looks like a mix between Trichocereus Tarmaensis and Trichocereus Knuthianus, with some very strong ribs and interesting spination.

Trichocereus Knuthianus is one heck of a rare plant and I am glad that I can offer it in the shop.

30 Seeds – 3 Euro

Trichocereus Knuthianus / Echinopsis Knuthiana - Seeds

Trichocereus Tarijensis

 Trichocereus Tarijensis

New Name: Echinopsis Tarijensis + ssp. herzogiana, ssp. tarijensis and ssp. totorensis

Trichocereus Tarijensis is large closely related to the bigger Trichos like Trichocereus Bertramineus and Trichocereus Poco. It is most likely synonymous with trichocereus totorensis, bertramineus and poco.

The location of the typus is Tarija in Bolivia and it grows throughout southwest and south bolivia, parts if Argentina and the Andes.

Synonyms: Trichocereus Poco, Helianthocereus Poco, cereus Tarijensis, Lobivia Formosa ssp. tarijensis, Trichocereus Herzogiana, Helianthocereus Herzogiana, Helianthocereus Tarijensis, Trichocereus totorensis, Helianthocereus Totorensis.

Typically, Trichocereus Tarijensis has 15-25 ribs, can get up to 40 centimeters in diameter with many 1-10 centimeters long spines. Spines yellowish in color. 1-5 Middle thorns and up to 45 radial thorns. The spines are usually long and are pointing downwards, what gives Trichocereus Tarijensis a great protection against anything trying to touch it. The diameter can reach a stunning 40-50 centimeters. Young specimens are very similar to Trichocereus Pasacana, but are a lot more spiny, especially later on.

Flowers: Red to pink to milky white and over 10 centimeters in lenght. Green fruits, up to 5 centimeters in lenght. 3 centimeters in diameter. There is great variation within the look of the flowers and while some can be more rose-colored, some others look more reddish.

And also the rest of the plant can be greatly variable, which is the reason that this species caused a lot of confusion due to numerous descriptions of plants that somehow seem to belong into the same complex. A lot of the species inside Backeberg´s genus „Helianthocereus“ belong into the Tarijensis group, that now consists of a handful of subspecies, instead of varieties. That is a fine but very important difference and I tend to agree that this is exactly the right way to classify this group of impressive giants that can be found all over the Andes.

Pic: Prier

Trichocereus Poco, which is probably synonymous with Trichocereus Tarijensis

Trichocereus Poco, which is probably synonymous with Trichocereus Tarijensis

This is a herbarium specimen, Copyright: Ben Kamm, Sacredsucculents.com

Victorio_Angelelli

Jujuy- by Marian ocecowski QuebradaDeHumahuaca

by Evasaco Jardin_Botanico_de_Altura-Tilcara-Jujuy

Young specimen of Trichocereus Poco. You can perfectly see the similarity to Trichocereus Pasacana and Terscheckii. The plant is a lot more spiny though and that´s exactly how you can differentiate it.

This plant was labeled Trichocereus Herzogianus ssp. Totorensis. It is also the same plant called Trichocereus Totorensis, Helianthocereus Totorensis or the new name Trichocereus Tarijensis ssp. Totorensis.

Trichocereus Tarijensis

Trichocereus Manguinii aka Trichocereus WK

Trichocereus Manguinii aka Trichocereus WK

Hi Guys, another cactus from the ancient times. Trichocereus Manguinii Backeberg, which can also be found throughout Australia under the name Trichocereus WK. I have absolutely no idea what WK stands for but the name Trichocereus Manguinii goes back to Backeberg, who tried to describe it as a species. Sometimes, we come across plants in our Trichocereus Facebook group. Most of the plants we encountered were probably brought into circulation by Backeberg himself or Friedrich Ritter in the early days of worlwide cactus trade.

The plant looks like a mix between a Trichocereus Terscheckii and Trichocereus Schickendantzii. It is very similar to Trichocereus Schickendantzii but it grows more columnar, is thicker and has red flower bulbs instead of green ones on Trichocereus Schickendantzii. The color of the epidermis is usually very dark green.

Description: Upright growing columnar cactus that usually pups very strongly from the base. The plant tends to form a lot of shoots and can form small group of plants very fast. Trichocereus Manguinii reaches a size of up to 120 centimeters and a maximum diameter of up to 15 centimeters. It has 18-21 ribs. The body of Trichocereus Manguinii has a dark green body, that differentiates it from similar lookalikes. Trichocereus Shaferi is similar for example, but it isnt as green as this one and has a lot less ribs.

The areoles are somewhat sunken in and usually have a dominant white fluff covering them. It has 10-12 radial spines and up to 4 middle spines than can get up to 0,5 centimeters long.

Flowers: The flowers are usually white and reddish/brown sepals that are covered with scales. The flowers can get up to 15 centimeters long and are very massive, compared to Trichocereus Schickendantzii. Trichocereus Manguinii forms a lot of flowers that are coming from all over the plant, including from the areoles.

Origin: Probably Argentina. But there was great confusion surrounding this plant because it was mostly known as a collection plant. One very large plant was located in the collection of Mr. Rivierre but I have no idea what happened to it. This plant is really rare today and will probably not come labeled under the „correct“ name. The name was not accepted, which is why I chose the quotation marks. Trichocereus Manguinii is now integrated into Trichocereus Schickendantzii, though this large monster of  a cactus is definitely different from what I know as Tr. Schickendantzii. But since the plant is extremely rare, it´s probably not really high on any modern Taxonomist´s „To-Do“ list to re-classify it.

As there are many Trichos from around the time of Backeberg and Ritter growing in Australia, this plant can be found sometimes over there. I´ve seen two of them recently that were posted in our Trichocereus group and I really hope to get some more pics and/or seeds in the future. It´s an amazing plant that usually comes labeled „Trichocereus WK“. If someone has an idea what it might mean, please let me know.

Where to buy seeds or plants of Trichocereus Manguinii? Well, this plant is currently not available anywhere in the world. I am trying to get some seeds and if I should ever locate a source, I´ll let you know.

Trichocereus Manguinii aka Trichocereus WK

Trichocereus Macrogonus (Fields)

Trichocereus Macrogonus (Fields)

This plant is part of the legendary Fields collection in Australia, which was started around the 1930s. This was long before all the import restrictions on plants and cacti were put in place. The garden is now owner by Robert Field, who took over the garden from his father, the original starter of this collection. I am currently trying to get in touch with the family in order to get some more pics of their amazing collection for this site. From what I heard, they are extremely friendly people and if someone knows how to get in touch with them, please let me know.

Now back to the history of the Fields Macro. Harry Blossfeld, who was a field botanist, offered some cactus shares to finance his 1935 South America Expedition and Mr. Field was one of the people who took the chance to invest in it. In return, he received some very cool cacti that grew in what is known as the „Field´s Collection“. In addition, Mr. Field seems to have bought some plants or seeds from Friedrich Ritter, because some of their plants were (at least officially) discovered by Ritter, such as Trichocereus Knuthianus.

This Trichocereus Macrogonus is one of the oldest confirmed specimens that are labeled as such. There are a lot of plants labeled Trichocereus Macrogonus on the market today, but the great confusion surrounding the name makes it very hard to differentiate between the ones that were originally called „Trichocereus Macrogonus“ and the ones that modern nurseries or seed collectors just adopted because certain types are generally accepted as „Trichocereus Macrogonus“. But those are usually very little different from Trichocereus Peruvianus, which is why I think both names are synonymous. But that´s another story. The original Trichocereus Macrogonus was never found again and today no one really knows what plant was originally meant with the description. And because of that, a Trichocereus Macrogonus that goes back to the 1930s is a great thing! If you are interested in the history of Trichocereus Macrogonus, have a look at my friend Trout´s article here on SAB.

Personally, I think the Fields Macrogonus looks very much like a Matucana Peruvianus and it´s very possible that the Matucana type was originally called Macrogonus, while the others were called Peruvianus. Of course that´s not really correct because the whole genus Trichocereus is extremely variable, but it would be a theory about the separate description of Trichocereus Macrogonus.

Pictures: By Rodni! Thank you very much!

Trichocereus Macrogonus (Fields)