Trichocereus Blog: Trichocereus Chilensis

Montag, 1. Juni 2015

Trichocereus Nigripilis / Trichocereus Spinibarbis

Trichocereus Nigripilis / Trichocereus Spinibarbis

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the name of this Chilean Trichocereus. According to Ritter, the plant was synonymous with a plant called Cereus Spinibarbis Otto. That´s why he described it as Trichocereus Spinibarbis. These days, Trichocereus Nigripilis is not an accepted name anymore. The name was re-classified as Echinopsis Spinibarbis, but because of the chaotic situation surrounding the name, it would probably be best if it would be declared as invalid.

Now, what is Trichocereus Nigripilis? Well, those plants come from the large complex surrounding Trichocereus Coquimbanus and Trichocereus Chilensis. In Coquimbo, there are a couple of intermediates and different forms growing together and this is one of them. But the whole description of the plant called Cereus Spinibarbis Otto was already crappy to begin with because it lacked almost everything a reliable description should have. There neither were flowers nor fruits included in the description, what makes this a pain in the butt. The plants are very spiny and look like you´d expect a intermediate between Trichocereus Coquimbanus and Trichocereus Chilensis to look like. Trichocereus Nigripilis (or Echinopsis Spinibarbus) is similarly close to Trichocereus Chilensis, as Trichocereus Litoralis. Both are intermediary forms of Trichocereus Chilensis. The history of Trichocereus Nigripilis is really long and you have to dig through all kinds of different descriptions. And I already mentioned why they are pretty flawed to begin with. The original description of Cereus Spinibarbis Otto came from Förster in 1846. This description was also reprinted in Labourets book in 1853.

Trichocereus Nigripilis has a grass green body and new shoots are approximately 4-5 centimeters thick. It has nine ribs and curved areoles with very distinct separating grooves. It has large, oval areoles that are white felted. The spines are yellow, straight, strong and have a black tip, what is responsible for the name “Nigripilis”. The areoles are 1-2 centimeters long and are only a couple mm apart of each other.

Trichocereus Nigripilis has 8-10 radial spines and 2-4 middle spines, which are thick and up to 2,5 centimeters long.

Origin: Coquimbo. 30 Kilometers north of La Serena near the coast.

Salm-Dyck wrote about this plant, that the epidermis is dull and has a sandy/grainy texture. Unfortunately, I lack any plants to confirm this. If you grow one, please let me know because I am fairly interested in this plant and need better pics.

The plant that was described by Britton & Rose as Cereus Spinibarbis was a different plant and does not belong here. They described a Eulychnia.

Trichocereus Nigripilis forms large & multi-branched groups. New shoots emerge from the base and start growing upwards until later when they tend to bend over and growing almost creeping.

Ribs: 8-10. The plants growing in the northern areas around Huasco and Totoral tend to have more ribs than the ones in other areas. In these cases, the number is between 10-15 ribs. The plants in the original habitats usually have stronger spines and more ribs than the ones in collections.

Trichocereus Nigripilis is VERY similar to Trichocereus Coquimbanus. The differences in the flower are: The flower of Trichocereus Nigripilis always emerges from the top part/apex, is 8-11 cm long and usually very wide open. The tube is 25-36 mm long, the top part 20-30mm wide and white on the inside. The stamens are white, 15-23 mm long. The stylus is whitish, 42-70 mm long.

Backeberg gave Quebrada Honda as Typus location (which is roughly 30 km north of La Serena). Friedrich Ritters Collection number was FR536.

Where to buy seeds or plants of Trichocereus Nigripilis?: Well, this cactus is rare and will usually not come labeled as this. But since Knize sold a large amount of them labeled as KK1425 Trichocereus Nigripilus but I, unfortunately, lack any pics of the plant. Chances are that the color pics on this page show KK1425 but that´s just a guess. Apart from that, the plant is rare and will probably come labeled as Trichocereus Chilensis or Trichocereus Coquimbanus. As you can see, the b/w pics show some extremely spiny plants while Knizes “presumed” KK1425 shows something that is more like a Chilensis. The KK1425 was collected at Coquimbo, Chile at 1000 meters altitude.

Varieties: All I know is that there was/is a variety called Trichocereus Nigripilis var. nigris. At the moment, I do not have any more info but I will add some later.

Trichocereus Nigripilis / Trichocereu Spinibarbis at the typus location.

Trichocereus Nigripilis / Trichocereus Spinibarbis

Montag, 27. April 2015

Trichocereus Chilensis

Trichocereus Chilensis

Current name: Echinopsis Chilensis H.Friedrich & G.D.

Synonyms: Trichocereus Chilensis, Trichocereus Chiloensis, Echinopsis Chilensis, Echinopsis Chiloensis, Cactus Chiloensis, cereus chiloensis, Trichocereus Skottsbergii, Trichocereus Nigripilus, Echinopsis Skottsbergii, Echinopsis Nigripilus, Trichocereus Spinibarbis. It´s debatable whether or not Trichocereus Litoralis and Trichocereus Cochimbanus are synonymous with Trichocereus Chilensis and many intermediates exist. Both are definitely related to it)

Some people consider Eulychnia eburnea to be synonymous with Trichocereus Chilensis, but I disagree vehemently. The plants look kinda similar, but the flowers of them are so different that I don´t think that´s actually the case.

Trichocereus Chilensis or Trichocereus Chiloensis is the predominant Trichocereus in Chile. The Name Chiloensis is the taxonomically correct one, but I decided to ignore that because it is based on a typo. The name was supposed to mean “Chilean Trichocereus” and not “Trichocereus from Chiloe”. Chiloe is an Island, but this Plant does not grow anywhere near it. This fact makes the confusion around the name even more ridiculous. I understand that Taxonomy has to prefer the earliest name recorded, but in this case, the name Trichocereus chiloensis should be ignored because it is nothing but a typo. Trichocereus Chilensis grows from the Provence Talca in the south of Chile down to the Elqui Valley in the Provence Coquimbo in the north. There are various varieties and the maximum size of the plants varies greatly. Trichocereus Chilensis is one of the most typical cacti in Chile, grows like a tree and can get up to 6-7 meters tall. It grows as strong columns that reach a maximum diameter of 15 centimeters. The areoles are white/beige and up to 2 centimeters long. It has 10-12 radial spines that are up to 2 centimeters large and 2-4 middle spines. The middle spines are usually between 5-10 centimeters long-

Flower: The flower of Trichocereus Chilensis is a little smaller than the ones on other Trichocereus species. It is between 8-14 centimeters long. The tube has very little hair on it and is 4-6 centimeters long, white petals (up to 5 centimeters long). Trichocereus Chilensis is a day flowering species, but the flowers tend to stay open for a very long time, sometimes even up late into the night so you might get the idea it is actually night flowering. There are many varieties or intermediates of Trichocereus Chilensis, which grow all around the habitats and in the area where different types grow in the neighborhood of each other.

Varieties: Trichocereus Chilensis var. eburneus, Trichocereus Chilensis Pantholipes, Trichocereus Chilensis Borealis, Trichocereus Chilensis var. Australis, Trichocereus Chilensis var. Conjungens, Trichocereus Chilensis var. Skottsbergii,

Cultivation: Trichocereus Chilensis is a very tough cactus, just like many other Cacti from areas with extreme climate. They can take extreme heat and are very easy to grow. But they don’t like too much water, so you should never give too much water at once. They should only be watered in summer and require dry soil medium during the winter. Besides, they need a temperature change during the water in order to produce flowers. That means that you should overwinter Trichocereus Chilensis in a bright and well-ventilated room between October and April until there are no more night frosts. Trichocereus Chilensis is able to tolerate slight night frosts but the temperatures should not drop below -9° celsius or you might lose the cactus. Apart from that, Trichocereus Chilensis is really easy and can thrive on very poor soil medium. I can recommend purely mineral soil mixes for them because they tend to rot when there is too much humus in the soil. A cactus that is kept in a mineral substrate can stay wet for much longer without any damage to the roots that one that is grown in a highly humous substrate.

Growing Trichocereus Chilensis from Seed: Trichocereus Chilensis is similarly easy from seed as any other Trichocereus. The seeds stay long for 5-10 years, though it´s best to use seeds that are not older than one year. The seeds need light to germinate and you usually sprinkle them on top of the soil and put the pot/sowing container in a room with a temperature between 25-30° celsius for 2-6 weeks. If you still have no seedlings after 2-6 weeks, chances are that the seeds are not viable. There are not many suppliers for seed of Trichocereus Chilensis. The german seed wholesaler Köhres gets seeds of Trichocereus Chilensis every now and then and they are usually viable.

Trichocereus Chilensis – Huntington Botanical Garden by Richard Hipp