BK10511.1 Trichocereus vollianus, between Arani & Rodeo, Cochabamba, Bolivia

BK10511.1 Trichocereus vollianus, between Arani & Rodeo, Cochabamba, Bolivia

Copyright: Ben Kamm, Sacredsucculents.com

This is a very interesting plant and there arent so many descriptions available about it. This plant was encountered during the 2010 field trip. I am not sure if the ID is correct but I´ll add the description now and maybe we can get to the bottom of it. This plant has a lot of similarities to Trichocereus Lamprochlorus, which grows in Cochabamba in Bolivia too. The original description of this plant came from Backeberg in his book KAKTUS-ABC. The original typus location was said to be Arque in Cochabamba. The shoots have a maximum diameter of up to 10 centimeters, approximately 13 ribs and a very bright green yellow color. The epidermis of this plant has similarities to Trichocereus Spachianus, which has a very bright green color too. The ribs are 7 mm broad and are up to 5 mm high. The areoles are approx. 2-2,5 cm apart from each other. The plant has 7-12 radial spines and very fine and thin spines that can get up to 7 mm long. There usually is only one middle spine which can reach a lenght of 2,5 cm. All spines are yellow colored (Backeberg used the term “Amber”).

Flowers: The flowers of Trichocereus Vollianus are white and up to 12 cm long. However, I assume that the flowers depend greatly on the health of the plant and larger flowers wouldnt come as a surprise to me.

Fruit: Green and very hairy.

How to keep it apart from Trichocereus Spachianus?: Trichocereus Vollianus is very similar to Trichocereus Spachianus but thicker, even more shiny and has a brighter green epidermis. Backeberg also mentioned that they work very well as a grafting stock.

There also was a Trichocereus Vollianus var. Rubrispinus with reddish spines, which would probably be regarded as nothing but a local form under modern taxonomy. I encountered populations that had all kinds of forms growing together and this kind of stuff isnt really enough to justify a new species. I own a plant that I suspect to be Trichocereus Vollianus and I will post some pics of it soon.

Where to get seeds of Trichocereus Vollianus?: Well, it´s definitely a rare species. Sacred Succulents collected some seeds and gave them away under the name mentioned above but apart from that, there are very few sources that provide VIABLE seed. I still have some Seeds from Köhres but couldnt get them to germinate. Succeed had them every now and then and it´s worth a try to ask Sacred Succulents because they probably grew some from the seeds they collected. You could also make a posting in our Trichocereus Facebook group because I know of some people who were able to get some seeds back when they were sold by Sacred Succulents. Definitely an interesting plant!

BK10511.1 Trichocereus vollianus, between Arani & Rodeo, Cochabamba, Bolivia

BK10511.1 Trichocereus vollianus, between Arani & Rodeo, Cochabamba, Bolivia

BK10511.1 Trichocereus vollianus, between Arani & Rodeo, Cochabamba, Bolivia

Copyright: Ben Kamm, Sacredsucculents.com

This is a very interesting plant and there arent so many descriptions available about it. This plant was encountered during the 2010 field trip. I am not sure if the ID is correct but I´ll add the description now and maybe we can get to the bottom of it. This plant has a lot of similarities to Trichocereus Lamprochlorus, which grows in Cochabamba in Bolivia too. The original description of this plant came from Backeberg in his book KAKTUS-ABC. The original typus location was said to be Arque in Cochabamba. The shoots have a maximum diameter of up to 10 centimeters, approximately 13 ribs and a very bright green yellow color. The epidermis of this plant has similarities to Trichocereus Spachianus, which has a very bright green color too. The ribs are 7 mm broad and are up to 5 mm high. The areoles are approx. 2-2,5 cm apart from each other. The plant has 7-12 radial spines and very fine and thin spines that can get up to 7 mm long. There usually is only one middle spine which can reach a lenght of 2,5 cm. All spines are yellow colored (Backeberg used the term “Amber”).

Flowers: The flowers of Trichocereus Vollianus are white and up to 12 cm long. However, I assume that the flowers depend greatly on the health of the plant and larger flowers wouldnt come as a surprise to me.

Fruit: Green and very hairy.

How to keep it apart from Trichocereus Spachianus?: Trichocereus Vollianus is very similar to Trichocereus Spachianus but thicker, even more shiny and has a brighter green epidermis. Backeberg also mentioned that they work very well as a grafting stock.

There also was a Trichocereus Vollianus var. Rubrispinus with reddish spines, which would probably be regarded as nothing but a local form under modern taxonomy. I encountered populations that had all kinds of forms growing together and this kind of stuff isnt really enough to justify a new species. I own a plant that I suspect to be Trichocereus Vollianus and I will post some pics of it soon.

Where to get seeds of Trichocereus Vollianus?: Well, it´s definitely a rare species. Sacred Succulents collected some seeds and gave them away under the name mentioned above but apart from that, there are very few sources that provide VIABLE seed. I still have some Seeds from Köhres but couldnt get them to germinate. Succeed had them every now and then and it´s worth a try to ask Sacred Succulents because they probably grew some from the seeds they collected. You could also make a posting in our Trichocereus Facebook group because I know of some people who were able to get some seeds back when they were sold by Sacred Succulents. Definitely an interesting plant!

BK10511.1 Trichocereus vollianus, between Arani & Rodeo, Cochabamba, Bolivia

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)