Trichocereus peruvianus from Matucana

Trichocereus peruvianus from Matucana

Trichocereus peruvianus from Matucana is one of the most sought after types. Matucana is the type locality of Trichocereus peruvianus, which means that in Matucana you can find the most typical plants according to the description. The description was originally made by the Americans Britton & Rose, and the described a plant that must have been somewhere between Trichocereus peruvianus and Trichocereus cuzcoensis. And yes, Trichocereus cuzcoensis plays a part in the history of Trichocereus peruvianus as well. Both are so closely related and exist with many intermediate forms in between that Britton & Rose´s decision to keep them separated from each other was not regarded without criticism.

One of the most typical Matucana Peruvianus types is the ICARO DNA Peruvianus. Icaro Dna made a name for themselves providing great quality seeds that are probably as true as it gets to the original description. To me, when I hear the name MATUCANA, I think of this remarkable type.
Photo: Trichocereus.com.au

Some more Matucana Peruvianus types are the LOS GENTILES Peruvanus from Sacred Succulents and my own Matucana Peruvianus in my shop! Sorry for the promo, but it´s super high quality seeds that you will love!

But now back to the Matucana Perus. Sacred Succulents had the great luck to visit some of them during their South America Field Trips. Here are some of them:

Trichocereus peruvianus, Matucana, Peru

Trichocereus Peruvianus without a field number. Again in Matucana Peru. Very cool Glauceous Tricho, similar to the cultivar Trichocereus Rosei or Trichocereus Glaucus. Pic: Ben Kamm, Sacredsucculents.com! Please support them because they are awesome!

BK08612.4-A Trichocereus peruvianus, Matucana, Peru

Another frosted Peruvianus from the Location in Matucana. Very similar to the Plants that are labeled „Trichocereus Rosei“. Or Trichocerus Glaucus! Pic: Ben Kamm, Sacredsucculents.com!

Another type that is believed to be a Matucana type is the Australian Trichocereus rosei clone. It´s fabulous and one of my absolute favorites. Rosei 2 is DEFINITELY a Matucana…and Rosei 1 most likely. The alternative would be that it comes from Rimac, but I want to show it here too!

This is Rosei 2, just for comparisons:

Some of those plants are sometimes called Trichocereus santaensis, but those are usually thinner and overall closer to Trichocereus pachanoi or sometimes even Trichocereus bridgesii than they are to Trichocereus peruvianus.

Well, that was one of the more typical Trichocereus peruvianus from Matucana. This city in Peru is one of the historic cactus sites, especially for the species Trichocereus peruvianus. Matucana is the type locality of Trichocereus peruvianus, which means that in Matucana you can find the most typical plants. But there is more; many many plants with cuzcoensis genetics. For example, KK242 is from Matucana too! And due to the high number of intermediates between Trichocereus cuzcoensis and Trichocereus peruvianus, it´s sometimes not easy to draw a firm line between them.

This photo shows a fairly typical KK242 from Matucana. The photo comes from K.Trout and his website troutsnotes.com.

And now compare this to this other plant from Matucana:

It´s funny…but that one was sold as KK242 from Matucana too. Just to give you an understanding of what is actually out there.

Trichocereus peruvianus from Matucana

Los Gentiles (Trichocereus Peruvianus)

Los Gentiles (Trichocereus Peruvianus)

The Los Gentiles Peruvianus is mostly known through the California based Nursery Sacred Succulents, who has been offering crosses with this type for years. It is a frosted blue Peruvianus in the sense of Trichocereus Macrogonus and the color of the spines varies between Gold and reddish brown.

Most of the spines have black tips and the ribs indicate a distant relationship with Trichocereus Cuzcoensis. It definitely is an interesting type and I will add further info about it later on.

What I can already say is that it is very similar to the Trichocereus Peruvianus from the Area around Matucana and it´s possible that this is where this type originally came from.

Where to buy seeds or plants of the LOS GENTILES type: The LOS GENTILES San Pedro is rare, but sometimes available through Sacred Succulents or private growers who give away cuttings. There are a few local populations that look very much like the LOS GENTILES type. The history of this type ( I intentionally say “type” and not “clone”) is that there was an Ethnobotanist who lived with a Quechua family who occupied the land for always and forever. They allegedly grow their crops, including the cacti, exactly like the Quechuan did thousands of years ago. Now, I am not sure if that´s just folklore, a nice fairy tale or the truth but it sure as hell is a hell of a story.

The LOS GENTILES is NOT the same type as the ICAROS DNA San Pedros and it´s an amazingly interesting type. I wrote “type” instead of “clone”, simply because there are numerous plants that were raised from the seed with that label…and not just one single clone that was constantly propagated by cuttings. Sacred Succulents are pretty much the only source for this type of Trichocereus. Well, apart from the people who bought them there.

The LOS GENTILES type is extremely fascinating and I am really inclined to believe that it´s a plant, that has been bred like that for hundreds, if not thousands of years. And even if that´s not the case, it still is a fantastic San Pedro with a deep blue epidermis and strong spines that have written “Dangerous” all over them.

Pics by Noah Reams

 

Pic by Stillman

Los Gentiles (Trichocereus Peruvianus)