Trichocereus terscheckii (Echinopsis terscheckii)

Trichocereus terscheckii  (Echinopsis terscheckii)
Origin: Trichocereus terscheckii  is a variable species that is a catch-all name for a variety of different forms, some of which form intermediates with other species like Trichocereus atacamensis, Trichocereus taquimbalensis, Trichocereus...
Trichocereus terscheckii (Echinopsis terscheckii)

Trichocereus Terscheckii (Echinopsis Terscheckii)

Trichocereus Terscheckii  (Echinopsis Terscheckii Parmentier ex Pfeiffer)

Origin: The species Trichocereus Terscheckii contains a very wide variety of plants, of which some are very close to Trichocereus Pasacana (Echinopsis Pasacana). Trichocereus Terscheckii grows around the south of Bolivia, North Argentina (Catamarca, Tucuman, La Rioja, Jujuy, San Juan, Salta) and there are countless intermediates between Trichocereus Terscheckii, Trichocereus atacamensis, Trichocereus Pasacana and Trichocereus Validus. The latter is probably just one of those intermediate forms of Trichocereus Terscheckii anyway. Besides, the plant that was called Trichocereus Werdermannianus is actually an Intermediate form between Trichocereus Taquimbalensis and Trichocereus Terscheckii, though it is closer related to Taquimbalensis than Terscheckii. Overall, this is a very complex and highly controversial group of plants and only DNA testing can pin down the family tree that is hidden inside those beautiful tree-like plants. Personally, I think that all those Andean Trichocereus are members of a very variable group of plants that should all be merged. I will now add the description of Trichocereus Terscheckii, though there certainly are other forms of this plant that might be a little bit atypical. This is normal, because everywhere different species grow together, there will be natural hybrids and intermediate forms. I am not here to fix the mess that went down in the taxonomy of those plants in the past 100 years. I like those plants and I will use this page to portray the botanical variety that this species can have.

Synonyms: Echinopsis Terscheckii, Cereus Terscheckii, Pilosocereus Terscheckii, Cereus fulvispinus, Trichocereus Validus, Echinopsis Valida, Trichocereus Werdermannianus, Cereus werdermannianus, Echinopsis Werdermannianus, Cereus Validissimus. Besides, some forms of Trichocereus Pasacana and Trichocereus Tarijensis are synonymous with Trichocereus Terscheckii too.

Varieties: Trichocereus Terscheckiioides, Trichocereus Terscheckii var. Montanus,

Cultivation: Trichocereus Terscheckii is an amazing plant in culture. They grow very slow compared to other Trichos and don’t require a lot of water. I usually try to give them as much free root run as possible, what is important for their ability to flower. Their growth rate depends on many things, like how they are grown, hoch much water & fertilizer they get, and so on. Plants in habitat grow very slow and sometimes take 50 years to reach a good size because they get very little water and nutrients. Their mature form is totally different to what they look like as seedlings.

Description: They start off as a typical, columnar cactus but grow more branched later on in the life and sometimes get a couple of additional “arms”. Trichocereus Terscheckii can reach a size of 10-15 meters and a diameter of up to 60 centimeters.

Ribs: 8-15

Areoles: Approx. 2 centimeters in diameter and up to 3-4 centimeters apart from each other.

Spines: 10-16 spines, yellow and up to 10 centimeters long

Flower: White, 15-22 centimeters long, 14 centimeters wide, petals up to 8 centimeters. Tube covered with brown, wooly hair. The variety Trichocereus Montanus was said to be less branchy and grew more like a typical columnar. Besides it had a larger diameter. I personally do not accept any varieties because I think that this is just a crazily variable species.

Trichocereus Terscheckii and Frost: Trichocereus Terscheckii is quite cold hardy and even survives in some areas in the United States. Personally, I would recommend a minumum average temperature of 10° celsius/50 Fahrenheit, but they are known to survive short night frosts without a problem. However, temperatures should never go below -9°/15.8 Fahrenheit. It is also important to keep away rain and moisture during the cold months, because the rain is probably a bigger problem that the cold temperatures. Those plants can stand the cold, but as soon as it´s cold and wet, it´s starting to get dangerous.

Trichocereus Terscheckii from Seed: This species is very easy from seed. It requires the same conditions than other Trichocereus species, but keeping the seed cold over night can help to break up the dormancy. The seed is usually viable for many years and I am sure you can get some germinations as long as the seed does not get older than 10 years. But best germination rates usually are within the first year. Make sure not to sow out too many of them at once, because they become quite fat and need enough space.

Trichocereus Terscheckii Seed & live cutting sources: This plant sometimes shows up on Ebay as live cuttings, plants or seeds. Many seed sources are selling old seed, so make sure to ask about the age of the seed. The best seed is usually from the growers who have a plant in their garden and give away seed. But there are some commercial sellers, including Köhres, who sell seed. Havent tested their Terscheckii seed lately but I tested it years ago, and it was ok.

 

Pic: Peter A. Manfeld

 

Pic: Pangopaso

Trichocereus Terscheckii (Echinopsis Terscheckii)

Trichocereus Validus

Trichocereus Validus Monv. aka Echinopsis Valida

Synonyms: Cereus validissimus, Echinopsis valida, Echinopsis validus, Echinopsis Robbinsoniana, Cereus forbesii, Trichocereus forbesii, cereus forbesii, Echinopsis Rhodotricha, Trichocereus Rhodotricha, Trichocereus Terscheckii

Trichocereus Validus grows like a tree and can get up to 40 centimeters in diameter. It is not as thick as Trichocereus Terscheckii, with which it is closely related to. So far, it is not known what the original location of the plant labeled Trichocereus Validus was but it was probably Bolivia. In Bolivia, there are many forms and intermediates of Trichocereus Terscheckii and some of them resemble Trichocereus Validus dramatically. My personal impression is that Trichocereus Validus is just one particular type of Trichocereus Terscheckii.

Ribs: 10-12. Older specimens have more ribs, which is pretty typical. There are very little spines around the upper half of the body, what makes it look like nearly spineless Terscheckii.

The areoles are between 2,5 and 3,5 centimeters apart of each other. 5-10 radial spines that are up to 4 centimeters long with a very typical outwards pointing spine, which is actually the lowest on the areole. In addition, Trichocereus Validus has approximately 1-2 middle spines. 5-10 centimeters long.  Spines have a very small but visible rounded spine base. The spine color is yellow, similar to the one on Trichocereus Terscheckii.

Flower: White. Similar to Trichocereus Terscheckii and between 10-15 centimeters long and up to 15 centimeters in diameter. Gray-brown hairs on the flower and white petals.

Fruit: Round fruit with wool & hairs on top of it.

There are various Plants with that label that are floating around in cactus collections! Until today, it is unclear what plant was actually described because the description was done after a bad photo. Now, there is a Pic titled Trichocereus Validus or Echinopsis Valida that shows a very close relative of Trichocereus Terscheckii. While it has pretty unique Spination, it´s very likely that it is some variety of Trichocereus Terscheckii.

Sources for Seed & live cuttings of Trichocereus Validus: I am very proud that we could pin this lost plant down in the past years, what made it possible for a couple of growers to spread this remarkable plant. The First grower that helped tremendously to spread Trichocereus Validus is Misplant.net! He uses his mother plant to make a couple crosses every year and you can buy seed through his Seed store on Misplant! Besides, this plant is available in Australia, where some growers trade away a few cuttings or seeds per year. In addition, you can get seeds of Trichocereus Validus from Sacred Succulents but I haven’t seen their mother plant yet. I will add new sources for this plant in this article but at the moment, I do not know more. I also want to let you guys know that there is no alternative source for seeds in case Misplant stops growing and spreading them, so get some while they are available.

Cultivation & frost tenderness: Trichocereus Validus is very similar to Trichocereus Terscheckii and everything I wrote about the cultivation of it apply here too. They can take slight night frosts, but it should not go over -5° to -7° celsius. They need to be dry and the average minimum temperature should be around 10° celsius. Trichocereus Validus is extremely thick and it needs a large pot.

The Plant here was found on ebay and has many similarities to Trichocereus Validus. Chances are, it´s just some Terscheckii with a similar Spination. But since Trichocereus Validus is most likely nothing else than some Terscheckii Variety it´s not really possible to clear this up.

Now the next Plant is really interesting. It is what many growers call the FIELDS Validus. It grows on a private property in Australia and the Owner originally bought some Seeds of Friedrich Ritters Collection of Trichocereus Validus and grow it out into a gigantic Monster of Awesomeness! The Plant is identical with the Plant shown in Backebergs Cactaceae and IS most likely the Terscheckii Variety that is known as Trichocereus Validus.

This Plant grows in the Huntington Botanical Garden and is labeled Echinopsis Robinsoniana . It is actually the plant that came to fame as Trichocereus Validus. It´s probably a variety of Trichocereus Terscheckii and chances are that there are seeds labeled as that available on the market. So whenever you encounter Echinopsis Robinsoniana or Terscheckii varieties from Bolivia, it might be the plant that was once called Trichocereus Validus. I am beyond doubt that Trichocereus Validus didn´t suddenly cease to exist in cultivation but simply carries another label these days.

Trichocereus Validus – Huntington Botanical Garden – by Richard Hipp

Trichocereus Validus