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 Shaferi (Echinopsis Shaferi)

Trichocereus Shaferi (Echinopsis Shaferi)

There are more than one plant that are available under that name on the open market. I bought a plant labeled as Trichocereus Shaferi that looks remarkable like a Trichocereus Spachianus.

The name “Shaferi” goes back to the 1920s, when Britton and Rose came up with their description that lacked a lot of details. However, there were some more descriptions by Ritter, Backeberg and Rauh/Werdermannianus that went more into detail.

Trichocereus Shaferi pups from the base and reaches a size between 1-1,5 meters. The plant grows partially lying or leaning over and has between 15 and 20 ribs. Britton and Rose gave an average number of 12 ribs, which is dramatically different from the data that were given in later descriptions. The maximum diameter is 5-12 centimeters and the color is a gray/dark green, which you can very well see on the pictures that were provided by Trout. The ribs are 0,5-1 centimeters high and there are substantial furrows .

The Areoles on Trichocereus Shaferi are white felted and 1-6 mm in diameter and up to 1,2 centimeters apart of each other.

Spines: The spines of Trichocereus Shaferi are yellow, very fine and needle-like with a slightly dark-brown spine tip. It has 7-10 radial spines (up to 1 cm long) and 1-3 middle spines (1-2 cm).

Flower: Very round flower. White. Trichocereus Shaferi flowers from the upper part/apex and Britton and Rose gave a size of 15-18 cm.

Fruit: The fruit has a whole lot of very dominant white hairs, as you can beautifully see on the second picture. The edible fruit is round and 3-5 cm in diameter. Green in color with reddish/green scales.

Origin: Ritter encountered this plant near Leon near Jujuy at around 1500-1800 meters growing on rocky slopes. Britton and Rose gave San Lorenzo in the provence Salta at 1800 meters as the location of the typus. Ritter considered his collection in jujuy to be a regional variety but didnt really follow up on it. His collection name was FR41 and there is a large number of seeds that gotten into the collections of cactus fans all around the world.

Where to buy seeds and plants of Trichocereus Shaferi? Well, it´s rare and you might come across them on eBay. Like I already mentioned before, I bought a large plant that might be correctly labeled but has a lot of similarities to Trichocereus Spachianus. The plants on the pics have a lot of ribs and look very unique. Some seed stores and cactus nurseries have them in stock every once in a while but I never really looked for it and cant say how good the available seed is. I also dont know if theres even viable seed on the market. I am sure there are some collectors that offer seeds from their collections sometimes but it´s probably a little bit hard to. If I´d be looking for this type, I´d write emails to Kakteen Haage, Kakteen Uhlig, Succeed, Sacred Succulents and hope for the best. You can also try making a post in our Trichocereus Facebook group but I´ve never really encountered one there. But it cant hurt to ask.

 

Trichocereus Shaferi (Echinopsis Shaferi)

Trichocereus Angelesii (NN)

Trichocereus Angelesii (NN)

This plant was originally described by Friedrich Ritter as a white flowering variety of Trichocereus Strigosus, until Kiesling publicized it under the name Trichocereus Angelesii.

The flower is white and 12-24 centimeters long. Trichocereus Angelesii is a dayflowering species. The spines, fruits and seeds are indistinguishable from Trichocereus Strigosus. They usually have 14-22 ribs  (while Trichocereus Huascha has 12-15 ribs).

The typus location is Famatima in the provence La Rioja, what makes it likely that it is synonymous with the plant Trichocereus Famatinensis, which was a commercial variety. It is closely related to the plant that Ritter called Trichocereus Callianthus. This plant was originally sold by Ritter as FR999, which was still labeled as Trichocereus Huascha back then.

Kieslings desciption gives Darwinia in Argentina as the typus location and it´s not clear wether or not those plants were actually the same.

Where to buy seeds or plants of Trichocereus Angelesii? Well, good Luck with that. If you don´t have the chance to collect them at one of the forementioned locations, you will probably not run into it very oftenly. But chances are some older growers still grow some plants raised from Ritter´s seeds.

The German seed seller Köhres has some of them in stock, but last time I tried germinating them, they seemed to be unviable. Maybe ask them about the seed if you are really interested in trying to germinate them. I still have some of the seed that I tried to germinate in 2008 or so but don´t think they were viable anymore. I kept a couple of seeds for microscopy and maybe I try germinating them soaked in Gibberellic Acid or something like that, though I am not really optimistic I would have germinations.

 

Trichocereus Angelesii (NN)

Trichocereus Candicans (Echinopsis)

Trichocereus Candicans (Echinopsis candicans)

Current name: Echinopsis Candicans (Gillies ex Salm-Dyck)

Synonyms: Cereus Candicans, Echinocactus candicans, Echinocereus Candicans, Echinopsis Candicans, Helianthocereus candicans, Trichocereus Pseudocandicans, Trichocereus Tenuispinus, Echinopsis candicans var. Tenuispinus, Cereus candicans spinosior, Trichocereus Neolamprochlorus, Trichocereus Gladiatus, Trichocereus candicans var. Gladiatus, Trichocereus Rubriflorus, Echinocactus dumelianus, Cereus Candicans var. spinisior, Helianthocereus pseudocandicans and some forms of Trichocereus Lamprochlorus

First of all, this species is a mess. There are totally different types of plants floating around in the collection and I am not even counting the hybrids yet. There were numerous taxonomists in the past 100 years messing around with Trichocereus Candicans and I am not really happy with the current taxonomy either. There originally were a couple of different subspecies like Trichocereus Candicans & Trichocereus Pseudocandicans + the closely related species Trichocereus Lamprochlorus + Neolamprochlorus. Today, Trichocereus Lamprochlorus was divided from Trichocereus Candicans…and for good reasons. Because of that, I will concentrate on the plants that are definitely authentic candicans on this page.

Trichocereus Candicans is a small and compact columnar cactus that builds clusters and grows approximately 75 centimeters tall- The plant usually has a yellowish skin color and grows in clusters up to 3 meters wide. The columns are 8-15 Centimeters thick and have between 9 and 11 Ribs. Areoles are pretty big and white felted and up to 2 centimeters apart of each other. Trichocereus Candicans has 10-12 Radial Spines that are up to 4 centimeters long and 4 middle spines that are up to 8 centimeters long.

Flower: Most candicans have white flowers, but this is a species that is highly hybridized in nature and i´ve seen various populations that had all kinds of flower colors and everyone of them was more beautiful as the other. And they had all kinds of flowers…yellow, red, white, you name it! Regularly, the flower is white and reaches a size of up to 20 centimeters  (and some varieties even more). The flowers have a very nice smell and attract all kinds of insects. Because of its excellent flower, Trichocereus Candicans is a perfect plant for hybrid breeding. The flower looks amazing and accepts pollen of most other Trichocereus, including the San Pedro cacti. Because of that, it´s a great candidate to breed colored flowers into the whole San pedro group.

Trichocereus Candicans is Night flowering. Besides, it is self-sterile, what means that you need pollen from another donor to produce seeds.

Origin: Argentina. Around Mendoza and Cordoba. San Juan, Catamarca, La Rioja.

Just like I already mentioned, the species is very variable and is also close to Trichocereus Lamprochlorus. There are intermediates that show traits of both species and it´s nearly impossible to give a definite ID. There are natural hybrids between Trichocereus Candicans x Trichocereus Huascha and Trichocereus Candicans x Trichocereus Strigosa.

CITES: Trichocereus Candicans is in Cites APPENDIX II.

Varieties & Cultivars: Trichocereus Candicans var. Gladiatus (with very large flowers), Trichocereus Candicans var. Robustior, Trichocereus Candicans var. Rubriflorus, Trichocereus Candicans Gröner Hybrids (which is a hybrid between Candicans x Pseudolobivia, which flowers very early on), Trichocereus Candicans var. Tenuispinus, Cantora hybrids (which is a cross between Trichocereus Candicans and Echinopsis Toralapana), and so on.

Trichocereus Candicans is a very good species for grafting or hybrid culture. There are certain hybrids with extremely beautiful flowers called CANTORA. Those hybrids are one part Trichocereus Candicans and one part Echinopsis Toralapana.

Many taxonomists call Trichocereus Candicans an extremely variable species. And while I agree with that, it´s also caused by the chaos that was caused by the large amount of different types that were all merged into this huge species “Trichocereus Candicans”.  Because there are so many different types available on the market, there are countless atypical plants that grow more columnar than standard Candicans´or that have very short spines instead of the long spines that most Candicans are known for.

Cultivation: Trichocereus Candicans is very easy in cultivation. It is an excellent grafting stock that is known for its great frost tolerance, but the plant is so beautiful that you can also grow it just because it looks cool. Especially the colored flower hybrids around La Rioja are amazing and I can only recommend you this amazing cactus. The plant takes many years until it flowers but there are some hybrids called Groener Candicans that are basically the result of an open pollination between Candicans and Pseudolobivia, which flower very early on within the first five years. Those hybrids were named after the grower who raised and distributed them. If you can get those hybrids, you wont regret it. But they are rare. Trichocereus Candicans should only be watered when it´s hot. Because of that, the plant does not get any water in between October and April. In europe, you can overwinter them in a bright place with lots of fresh air at a temperature of approximately 10° celsius. That´s the minimum average temperature and they do not need any water until the temperatures are starting to rise again.

Cultivation from Seed: Trichocereus Candicans is very easy from seed and requires the same treatment as any other Trichocereus. They are really frost resistant and can withstand short night frosts of down to -8° Celsius/17.5° Fahrenheit. The minimum average temperature is around 10° celsius/50° Fahrenheit. The seeds will start germinating at temperatures between 24-30° celsius and require very little water to germinate. They are relatively uncomplicated to grow but I had the best experiences with a soil that was purely mineral.

 Propagation: The plant is propagated by live Cuttings and seed.

Seed & live cutting sources: Trichocereus candicans is available through various commercial sources, including classic nurseries or stores like Amazon or ebay. There are quite a couple of commercial seed sources, including large seed wholesaler like Köhres, Kakteen Haage and other smaller shops. Trichocereus Candicans is not really rare but most plants on the market are actually mislabeled. It´s one of those Trichos that people tend to overlook, probably also because the taxonomic literature was making a huge chaos out of it to begin with. Besides, there are so many hybrids and all of them can look different.

Trichocereus Candicans var. Robustior – Huntington Botanical Garden by Richard Hipp

Trichocereus Candicans var. Robustior on the left and the very rare Trichocereus Santiaguensis on the right!

Trichocereus Candicans (Echinopsis)

Trichocereus lamprochlorus Echinopsis lamprochlora

Trichocereus lamprochlorus

Trichocereus Lamprochlorus is a difficult to ID cactus and its relationship to Trichocereus Candicans is not clear because at least one form of it is now considered to be synonymous with it.

The species was integrated into the genus Echinopsis and was called Echinopsis Lamprochlora (Lemaire), until the taxonomist Hunt re-evaluated the merging of Trichocereus into Echinopsis.

Synonyms: Trichocereus Lamprochlorus, Cereus Lamprochlorus, Cereus nitens salm-dyk, Trichocereus Candicans, Trichocereus Purpureopilosus

The situation around Trichocereus Lamprochlorus is complicated, which is probably because the original description of Cereus Lamprochlorus from Lemaire and the plant that we consider as Trichocereus Lamprochlorus are not the same. It´s unknown what kind of plant Lemaire was describing as Cereus Lamprochlorus, but the description differs from the plant that we know from collections. In fact, there are two different types of plant that are called “Trichocereus Lamprochlorus”. One is a medium sized Trichocereus that pups very strongly from the base and grows in groups of many side-arms. The other one is a classical columnar cactus that grows upwards and tends to get a lot bigger than the other type. Both are totally different species but were at some point, described as the same plant. The columnar growing type of this plant is the one that´s generally accepted as Trichocereus Lamprochlorus today. Check out Ben Kamm´s great pics from one of the Sacred Succulents Field trips:

Copyright: Ben Kamm, Sacred Succulents.com

Those pics were shot in Tiatako, Cochabamba, Bolivia. They show the type that we regard as Trichocereus Lamprochlorus today. It has up to 15 ribs, strong spines, a reddish touch around the spines, a very bright green epidermis, 10-15 radial spines and 4 middle spines. The flower of the originally described plant was not know. However, I am really sure that this was the plant that was considered as the Trichocereus Lamprochlorus from Bolivia.

However, there is this other type that was also described as Trichocereus Lamprochlorus and Britton & Rose already had problems with the two mixed up plants and tried to get to the bottom of it. Without success. The second plant known as Trichocereus Lamprochlorus was called “Trichocereus Neolamprochlorus” and is a type that is very close to Trichocereus Candicans. This type stays relatively small, pups from the bottom, has a bright green epidermis that later changes to a sickly looking yellow color. The plant can get up to 10 centimeters in diameter, has between 8-12 ribs. The spines of this plant have a reddish touch too and that´s the reason those two plants are mixed up all the time. Its flowers are up to 25 centimeters large, white, covered with black wool. This type originally grows around Cordoba in Argentina and is a totally different cactus that is extremely close to Trichocereus Candicans. Those plants are among the most difficult to ID Tricho´s, because there is total chaos about which description was about which plant. In addition, they might even be related to Trichocereus Huascha, which grows in the direct neighborhood of it. Trichocereus Lamprochlorus and Trichocereus Neolamprochlorus are two different plants coming from different countries. The Lamprochlorus type has more ribs, reversed spine color (yellow on the tip, brown/red on the bottom). Almost all pics on this page show the Lamprochlorus type, but I do have some pics of the Neolamprochlorus type (the wrong one) and I´ll post them as soon as I scanned them.

The One on the lower left! The one on the right is Echinocactus grusonii! by Christian Bortes!

This is a really roughed up specimen, but it´s one of the few pics I have of it.

Trichocereus Lamprochlorus

There´s also a pretty cool Trichocereus group that we started and which can be found at https://facebook.com/groups/trichocereus