Trichocereus tarijensis / Echinopsis tarijensis

The species trichocereus tarijensis, also known as Echinopsis tarijensis or Trichocereus poco, is a columnar cactus. Today it is separated through various subspecies that all count as part of Trichoereus tarijensis.

Currently valid names

Echinopsis tarijensis +

Echinopsis tarijensis ssp. herzogiana / Trichocereus herzogianus

Echinopsis tarijensis ssp. tarijensis / Trichocereus tarijensis

Echinopsis tarijensis ssp. totorensis / Trichocereus totorensis

In addition the species Trichocereus poco / Echinopsis poco is seen as part of Trichocereus tarijensis as well.

Trichocereus tarijensis is a massive and spiny Trichocereus species. Its many forms make it difficult to clearly separate some regional forms, which is why the whole complex should rather be seen as a group of very similar regional forms that ll belong to the same species. It is partially synonymous with trichocereus totorensis, Trichocereus bertramianus and Trichocereus poco.

Type locality

The type locality is Tarija in Bolivia and it grows throughout southwest and south Bolivia, parts of Argentina and the Andes.

Synonyms:

Trichocereus Poco, Helianthocereus poco, Cereus tarijensis, Lobivia formosa ssp. tarijensis, Trichocereus herzogiana, Helianthocereus herzogiana, Helianthocereus tarijensis, Trichocereus totorensis, Helianthocereus totorensis, Trichocereus narvaecensis, Trichocereus narvaezensis, Trichocereus bertramianus, Echinopsis bertramiana, Echinopsis narvaecensis, Trichocereus orurensis, Echinopsis orurensis, etc.

Description of T.tarijensis

Typically, Trichocereus tarijensis has 15-25 ribs, can get up to 40 centimeters in diameter with spines that can get 1-10 centimeters long. Spines yellowish in color. 1-5 Middle thorns and up to 45 radial thorns. The spines are usually long and are pointing downwards, what gives Trichocereus tarijensis a great protection against anything trying to eat it. The diameter can reach a stunning 40-50 centimeters. Young specimens are very similar to Trichocereus pasacana, but are a lot more spiny, especially later on.

Flowers:

Red to pink to milky white and over 10 centimeters in lenght. Green fruits, up to 5 centimeters in lenght. 3 centimeters in diameter. There is great variation within the look of the flowers and while some can be more rose-colored, some others look more reddish.

And also the rest of the plant can be greatly variable, which is the reason that this species caused a lot of confusion due to numerous descriptions of plants that somehow seem to belong into the same complex. A lot of the species inside Backeberg´s genus “Helianthocereus” belong into the Tarijensis group, that now consists of a handful of subspecies, instead of varieties. That is a fine but very important difference and I tend to agree that this is exactly the right way to classify this group of impressive giants that can be found all over the Andes.

Photos of Echinopsis tarijensis

Pic: Prier

Trichocereus poco, which is probably synonymous with Tr. tarijensis

Trichocereus Poco, which is probably synonymous with Trichocereus Tarijensis

This is a herbarium specimen, Copyright: Ben Kamm, Sacredsucculents.com

Victorio_Angelelli

Jujuy- by Marian ocecowski QuebradaDeHumahuaca

by Evasaco Jardin_Botanico_de_Altura-Tilcara-Jujuy

Young specimen of Trichocereus poco, also known as Trichocereus tarijensis v. poco. You can perfectly see the similarity to Trichocereus Pasacana and Terscheckii. The plant is a lot more spiny though and that´s exactly how you can differentiate it.

This plant was labeled Trichocereus Herzogianus ssp. Totorensis. It is also the same plant called Trichocereus Totorensis, Helianthocereus Totorensis or the new name Trichocereus Tarijensis ssp. Totorensis.

If you enjoy the things we do, please motivate us to keep doing it by spreading the word about our website. There´s a lot of work that goes into making this website and we love to hear that it´s appreciated. You can find our Facebook group about Trichocereus and Echinopsis here, and you can find some other amazing articles from our Trichocereus species database here:

Trichocereus validus

Trichocereus pachanoi

Trichocereus chiloensis

Trichocereus thelegonus / Echinopsis thelegona Friedrich & Rowley

Trichocereus thelegonus, also known as Echinopsis thelegona, is a columnar Trichocereus species from Argentina.

Pic: Noah Reams

Origin:

Argentina, Tucumán, Salta, 5500-1100 meters altitude

Synonyms:

Trichocereus thelegona, Trichocereus thelegonus, Echinopsis thelegonus, Echinopsis thelegona, Cereus thelegona, Cereus thelegonus

Trichocereus thelegonus is a branchy & creeping cactus that only produces a handful of shoots. It can reach a maximal height of approximately 2.2 meters and can get up to 10 centimeters in diameter. But that´s only the case on very old plants and most of them get 6 – 8 cm in diameter. The plant has 12-13 ribs and is characterized by its very dominant areoles that sit in top of some extremely hexagonal warts. It´s look is very typical and once you got used to the plant, it´s very hard to overlook or misidentify it.

Trichocerus thelegonus has rounded areoles and yellow to dark/brown spines. There also are regional types that rather have a reddish spine color instead of the brown one. Old growth tends to change its color to a more blackish tone, similar to how it can be observed on Trichocereus cuzcoensis. That said, both are really not very similar and this interesting plant from Argentina rather resembles a hanging basket cactus, than a classic columnar. Tr. thelegonus / Echinopsis thelegona usually has one and, in some very rare cases, two middle spines and between 5-8 radial spines that can reach up to 2,5 centimeters in length.

FLOWER:

Trichocereus thelegonus is a night flowering species, with flowers than can stay open until the early morning. The flower is white and gets up to 22 centimeters long and I measured a staggering 17 centimeters in diameter.
Apart from the size, the flower is very beautiful and has a wonderful scent!

Fruits:

The fruits of Trichocereus thelegonus are round and have reddish brown hairs. The fruits are reddish and can reach 6 centimeters in diameter. It does not produce as many seeds as other plants from the same genus. Trichocereus thelegonus / Echinopsis thelegona is self-sterile and it needs pollen from other plants to produce seed.

Trichocereus thelegonus cristata / crest:

There also is a crested clone of this plant that is extremely cool and resembles a monstrose Cereus. I´ve been lookingf or this crest for years, but wasn´t able to find one yet. Luckily, there are some pics from a Botanical garden:

Buy seeds or cuttings of Trichocereus thelegonus / For sale:

This species is kinda rare, but I sometimes get viable seeds of Trichocereus thelegonus. The problem isn´t that there aren´t any seeds available; but most of the ones that were, did not germinate. I am working on putting the type in my shop and if you want to be up to date about my fresh seeds, please subscribe to my newsletter at: trichocereus.net/newsletter.

Echinopsis Thelegona Cristata by Daderot

by Emoke denes Echinopsis_thelegona

bernard loison Echinopsis_thelegona

by Dick Cullbert

Pics: Noah Reams

Pics: Noah Reams

If you liked this article, check out our Trichocereus database pages about Trichocereus peruvianus or Trichocereus bridgesii.

If you want to support us, please join our Trichocereus Facebook group or Instagram.

Trichocereus Facebook Group Echinopsis Growers Worldwide

Hi guys, today I wanted to give you a preview from our Trichocereus Facebook group called Trichocereus & Echinopsis growers worldwide. It is one of the oldest Trichocereus groups on Facebook and was funded sometime around 2014.

Photo: Jason Hollinger

After all these years, our Trichocereus Facebook group has almost 17.000 members and we´re getting bigger every year. In regards to the subjects and topics that are allowed, we are rather open to off-topic subjects or threads about other cactus genera such as Lophophora, Lobivia, Hildewintera, Pseudolobivia, Ariocarpus, Akersia and many others.There are lots of different threads with hundreds of Trichocereus photos per week.

You can find the group here: facebook.com/groups/trichocereus

The current Christmas seed giveaway in our Facebook group

To celebrate the Trichocereus Christmas spirit, we have organized an amazing seed giveaway this year. Below you can see a small selection of the seed prizes from our 2018 Trichocereus Facebook giveaway. There are many, many more Trichocereus seeds that you can get for free.

These seeds were donated by the family of Karel Knize, the Peruvian seed and plant collector who had just passed away, and we are very proud that we can pass them along to the community.

Trichocereus tarmaensis
Trichocereus longispinus
Trichocereus glaucus KK334
Trichocereus carmaensis
Trichocereus cuzcoensis KK242
Trichocereus KK1670
Trichocereus tacaquirensis
Trichocereus sp. ‘House’
Trichocereus tulhuayacensis
Armatocereus matucanensis
Armatocereus KK230
Armatocereus procerus
Cereus repandus
Selenicereus grandiflorus

Secret Santa 2018 Trichocereus Giveaway

In addition to the Trichocereus seed giveaway, we´ll also have a Secret Santa event where our members are gifiting each other with some cactus related gifts. So far we have over 40 participants who are participating, and we still leave it open for new members to join. We´ll probably pick the matching Santas in 10-14 days, and it´s definitely not too late to join.

Regular giveaways, events and Trichocereus and Echinopsis seed trades/sales

We are very welcoming when it´s about events or giveaway, and there´s lots of private members who run their own giveaway or events as well.

Australian Trichocereus clones and hybrids

We´re truly an international Trichocereus Facebook group, and a large part of our members are actually from Australia. Because of this, we see quite a fair share of Trichocereus Australia clones that are being posted in our group.

Members from all across the world

Due to the fact that there are so many different people in our Trichocereus & Echinopsis Facebook group, there are members from all over the world. We have members from Europe, the United States, Australia, India, Africa and and and. Having so many different people in our group provides our members with great insight into the lives of cactus growers worldwide.

Information about the best Fertilizer or Soil Recipes

A large part of the posts in our group discuss the best fertilizer for Trichocereus and Echinopsis, or look into the most unseful soil recipes and minerals that are best suited for Trichocereus. There´s lots of content available about Pumice, Lava, Coir and all the other additives needed by cactus growers.

Trichocereus Tissue Culture, Cytokinines and Plant Hormones

Due to the fact that some of our members are into Tissue culture and have extensive experience with it, there´s quite a few postings about it and how to do it right. Also, there´s many posts about other plant hormones that can be useful, e.g. BAP, GA-3 Gibberellic Acid, etc. All of these can be very useful if you know how to use them.

Trichocereus Pests and Disease Treatments

If your Trichocereus plants are sick, you can find answers about the pests and diseases that affect them in our group. We have threads about pretty much everything that can infect or attack a Tricho, for example Thrips, Root mealies, Fungus gnats, Nematodes, Bugs, Slugs, Snails, Virus infections like Tobacco Mosaic Virus and other viruses, Witches broom disease, etc

DNA Testing on the genus Trichocereus

During the last year, some of our members started organizing DNA testing on plants from the genus Trichocereus and we´ll try to bring in some of the results that we´ll hopefully have during the next years into my upcoming book THE GENUS TRICHOCEREUS. We´ll try to conduct tests on some of the rare species like Trichocereus orurensis, Trichocereus uyupampensis, Trichocereus riomizquensis, etc, to find out if they deserve to be seen as correct and sepparate names or not.

Insight into the production process of the books we make

I am posting regular updates about the book production process in our Facebook group, and pretty much all of the content and photos are shown there as well. If you enjoy the Trichocereus and Echinopsis books that we make, feel free to join our group to see how we´re making them.

Lots of colored flower hybrids and beautiful clones

We have lots of professional breeders in our midst, which is why there´s regular photos of beautiful Trichocereus, Echinopsis or Lobivia flowers to be seen in our group. There´s lots of unique and amazing hybrids like Flying Saucer, Orange California, Wörlitz, First Light, some of the MEX hybrids, hybrids like SUNNY and other hybrids like HELLFIRE, GOLDFISCH, ETC, lots of rare Pseudolobivia and Lobivia hybrids from Thailand and Asia such as BIT, BIV and all the other cool hybrid.s

So yeah, I hope I could give you a small preview of our group and how amazing it is. 😉 Hope to see you soon in our Facebook group.

Join: https://facebook.com/groups/trichocereus

Also make sure to join the newsletter at trichocereus.net/newsletter or follow us on Instagram.

Trichocereus angelesii / Echinopsis angelesii or angelesiae

Trichocereus angelesii, also known as Echinopsis angelesii or Echinopsis angelesiae, was originally described by Friedrich Ritter as a white flowering variety of Trichocereus strigosus / Trichocereus strigonus, until Kiesling publicized it under the name Trichocereus angelesii.

Michelle Killen

Check out two photos of Trichocereus strigonus in comparison

The flower of Trichocereus angelesii

The flower of Echinopsis angelesii is white and 12-24 centimeters long. Trichocereus angelesii is a day flowering / diurnal species with clear visual similarity to Trichocereus strigonus. The spines, fruits and seeds are pretty much indistinguishable from the ones of Trichocereus strigosus, which makes it nearly impossible to identify the plant unless you find it at the original type location. Trichocereus angelesii, aka Echinopsis angelesii, usually has 14-22 ribs . In comparison to this, Trichocereus huascha has 12-15 ribs.

Pedro Lopez Artes

Pedro Lopez Artes

Pedro Lopez Artes

The typus location is Famatima in the provence La Rioja, what makes it likely that it is synonymous with the commercial name Trichocereus famatinensis. It is also 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.

Kiesling´s description gives Darwinia in Argentina as the typus location and it´s not clear whether or not those plants were actually the same.

Buy Trichocereus angelesii / Buy seeds of T. angelesii

It´s a rare species that you only get rarely, but classic Kaktus nurseries like Kakteen Haage or Uhlig Kakteen might have some of them available. If you don’t have the chance to collect them at one of the aforementioned locations, you will probably not run into it very oftenly. There are also some older plants that you can find on the commercial market, and these are usually labeled as T. huascha or Trichocereus strigonus. White flowering Trichocereus huascha might very well be a mislabeled Trichocereus angelesii.

If you enjoyed this article, also make sure to check out some of our other articles. For example the archive pages on Echinopsis macrogona, Echinopsis peruviana or Echinopsis valida.

Also join our Trichocereus Facebook group at https://facebook.com/groups/trichocereus

Trichocereus werdermannianus / Echinopsis werdermanniana

Trichocereus werdermannianus, also known as Echinopsis werdermanniana, is a columnar Trichocereus species from Bolivia. It is a close relative of Trichocereus terscheckii and I consider it an intermediate species between the large Andean Trichoereus terscheckii and Trichocereus taquimbalensis.

Original name:

Trichocereus werdermannianus Backeberg & Knuth, Kaktus ABC

Trichocereus werdermannianus is an old name that is debatable because it is so genetically close to Trichocereus terscheckii and might as well be seen as a regional form of it. The plant was discovered and described by Curt Backeberg, who named it after the German Botanist Erich Werdermann.

Trichocereus werdermannianus is a species that is difficult to identify, and its similarity to Trichocereus terscheckii make it difficult to distinguish it from it.

Apart from T.werdermannianus being mislabeled as T. terscheckii, they are also often labeled as Trichocereus taquimbalensis or tacaquirensis. For example, there are a few seed & plant distributors that sell cacti labeled Trichocereus werdermannianus, and the plants we grew from them ended up being all kinds of species. Trichocereus werdermannianus was sold as Trichocereus terscheckii, Trichocereus taquimbalensis, Trichocereus pasacana, Trichocereus peruvianus and Trichocereus macrogonus.

A very constant trait in all Trichocereus werdermannianus plants is the dark green to blue gray green color of epidermis, that is very typical for this species. Most if not all specimens I ever saw had a very dark green epidermis and a spination that looks like a mix of Trichocereus taquimbalensis and Trichocereus terscheckii.

I included the Description from Backeberg´s Book below. Backeberg acknowledges Trichocereus werdermannianus´genetic proximity to Trichocereus terscheckii and Trichocereus validus, but mentions that its flowers usually emerge from the top of the plant, while the two species mentioned before would have flowers that appear at lower regions of the plants body. Based on these observations, we think that it should merely count as a form or variety of Trichocereus terscheckii. That is if we even go so far to split a species up based on such criteria.

Flowers of Trichocereus werdermannianus:

White, flowering from the apex, flowers similar to the flowers of E.terscheckii.

The trees reach a size of 5 meters and a maximum diameter of 65 centimeters. Young plants have 10+ ribs while adult specimens can have 14+ ribs. The plant has ten spines that are between 5 and 10 centimeters long, color between yellow and yellowish brown. Many flowers that arise around the apex of the plant. The flowers can get up to 22 centimeters long, but the whole complex is very variable in this regard. The fruit is up to 4 centimeters in diameter and has many white or black hairs.

Trichoecreus werdermannianus seeds

The seeds of this species are usually 1,4 mm large, but that is also influenced by other factors such as region, plants that grow in direct neighborhood.

Origin of E.werdermanniana:

Bolivia, the type location is in the Charcoma Valley east of Tupiza. However, the species is also present around Potosi. Backeberg suspected that Trichocereus taquimbalensis from the region around those aforementioned locations is actually Trichocereus werdermannianus. It is obviously related to Trichocereus taquimbalensis, but there are substantial differences between these two species.

The first Two Pictures are in Fact the plant that Backeberg understood as Trichocereus werdermannianus. Pictures from the unspeakable Thunderhorse! 😉 In Front on the lower left: True validus! Please note that some pics on this page actually show plants labeled Trichocereus werdermannianus, but get very close to Trichocereus taquimbalensis.  It´s probably not that easy to draw a firm line between these two species sometimes.

KK1094 Trichocereus werdermannianus Mutant

The three pics above show seedlings that were raised from KK1094 Trichocereus werdermannianus seed. Please note that those seedlings actually ended up being Trichocereus taquimbalensis var. wilkae instead
Knize used this number for two plants. First, Trichocereus giganteus and then Trichocereus werdermannianus. Maybe he wasn’t sure about the ID, called it Tr. giganteus and changed it to Tr. werdermannianus later on. Both plants are collected in Otavi, Bolivia. Giganteus at 3200 Meters and Werdermannianus at 3500m.  Pics: MUTANT.

I own a Trichocereus giganteus KK1094, which ended up being a completely typical Trichocereus werdermannianus.

This is Trichocereus Werdermannianus KK917 from Karel Knize. Pic from Rodni Kisar!

This One is Trichocereus werdermannianus in the Botanical Garden in Adelaide. Pic from ZED! Thank you Bro! The plant is very close to Trichocereus taquimbalensis.

Orignal description of Curt Backeberg in German:

Trichocereus werdermannianus Backb g. — Backeberg & Knuth, Kaktus-
ABC, 206, 412. 1935
Bis 5 m hoch; Stamm bis 1 m hoch und bis 60 cm ∅; Rippen ca. 10, später 14
und mehr, 2 cm hoch; Areolen 2,5 cm entfernt; St. am Jungtrieb ca. 10, mittlere

kaum unterschieden, bis 7 cm lang, gelblich bis bräunlichgelb bzw. hornfarbig;
Bl., wenn zahlreich vorhanden, ± kranzförmig um den Scheitel oder scheitelnah;
bis 20 cm lang; Gr. weiß, kaum die Staubb. überragend; N. 15—19; Fr. kugelig,
3,5 cm ∅, lange, aber nicht sehr zahlreiche schwarze und weiße Haare tragend;
S. 1,3 mm groß, mützenartig, rauh punktiert. — B o l i v i e n (von mir, als Typort,
im Charcoma-Tal, östlich von Tupiza gefunden, von Cardenas auch in den
trockenen interandinen Tälern der Departements Potosi und Chuquisaca, auf
ca. 2600 m Durchschnittshöhe der Vorkommen) (Abb. 1054—1055). Während Trichocereus validus und T. terscheckii seitlich ± weit herab blühen,
ist T. werdermannianus durch seine nur hochsitzenden Bl. eindeutig unterschieden.
Sie alle scheinen nach den viel längeren Bl. und der sich nie verändernden
Stachelbildung an den Spitzen großer Pflanzen echt trichocereoide Riesenformen
zu sein, die (zum Teil) auch nachts geöffnete Bl. zeigen, wie ich zumindest an zwei
Arten beobachtete.
„Trichocereus pasacana“ dagegen scheint die größten Formen der Helianthocereus-
Formengruppe zu bilden, mit kürzeren Bl., gedrungeneren Röhren und an
alten Exemplaren bzw. solchen an hohen Standorten mit borstenartig elastischen
St., wie sie den Hochlands-Helianthocereus-Arten eigentümlich sind. Ich habe
daher Trichocereus pasacana auch zu Helianthocereus gestellt. Er ist zudem Tagblüher, soweit bekannt.

Trichocereus werdermannianus

Trichocereus Validus Monv. aka Echinopsis Valida

Trichocereus validus, also known as Echinopsis valida, is a columnar cactus that´s closely related to Trichocereus terscheckii. I consider it a form, variety or subspecies of Echinopsis terscheckii. Which one´s exactly the case will have to be decided by DNA testing .

Synonyms:

Cereus validissimus, Echinopsis valida, Echinopsis validus, Echinopsis robbinsoniana, Cereus forbesii, Trichocereus forbesii, cereus forbesii, Echinopsis rhodotricha, Trichocereus rhodotricha, Trichocereus terscheckii, Trichocereus terscheckii

Trichocereus validus grows like a tree and can get up to 40 centimeters in diameter. It doesnt get quite as thick as Trichocereus terscheckii, which is a close relative of it. The origin of Trichocereus validus is not know, was but it was probably Bolivia. In Bolivia, there are various Andean Trichocereus species from the Trichocereus terscheckii complex that this species could have come from. There´s populations of Trichocereus werdermannianus and Trichocereus tacaquirensis, which are both very similar in appearance. My personal impression is that Trichocereus validus is just one particular type of Trichocereus terscheckii.

Ribs:

10-12. Older specimens have a higher rib count, which is pretty typical. There are very little spines around the upper half of the body, what makes it look like a nearly spineless version of Trichocereus terscheckii.

The areoles are 2,5 – 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 of Trichocereus validus:

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 of T.validus:

Round fruit with wool & hairs on top of it.

The original description of Trichoecreus validus was written after a bad photo, and there was no flower photo or description originally. However, a flower description could be made eventually after a plant that grew in the Botanical Garden in De Cedres and the photos we saw did show a very close relative of Trichocereus terscheckii. While it has pretty unique spination, it´s still pretty obvious that the plant was some variety of Trichocereus terscheckii.

Sources for Seed & live cuttings of Trichocereus validus:

I am very proud that some of the members from our SAB forum were able to relocate this long lost plant in Australia and make it somewhat available. There were a few growers that received cuttings of this remarkable plant and we sometimes have cuttings available in our Trichocereus Facebook Group.

Another breeder who offers some seeds of Trichocereus validus is Misplant.net! He has a plant that roughly belongs to the same complex, but which isn´t quite the same mother plant to make a couple crosses every year and you can buy seed through his Seed store on Misplant! Misplant´s Trichocereus validus belongs somewhere in the relationship of it and Trichocereus uyupampensis, another rare Trichocereus that is considered (by some) to be synonymous with Trichocereus validus. Whether or not this is the case is currently not clear.

In Australia,  this plant was made available through the Fields Family and collection, who owned two large mother plants before the collection was donated to the Melbourne Botanical Garden.  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.

Cultivation & frost tenderness of E.valida:

Trichocereus validus is very similar to Trichocereus terscheckii and everything I wrote about the cultivation of it applies here too. These large Andean giants can take slight night frosts, but it should not go over -5° to -7° Celsius or it will get dangerous. The plants need to be dry and the average minimum temperature should be around 10° Celsius during the cold winter months. Trichocereus validus is extremely thick and it needs a large, deep pot if you ever want to see it flowering.

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.

Rodni Kisar

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

Echinopsis robinsoniana Numen Nudum (Trichocereus validus)

This Plant is labelled Echinopsis robinsoniana and looks very much look the Trichocereus validus pictured in Backebergs CACTACEAE. Personally, I am absolutely sure that Echinopsis robinsoniana is just a synonym for Trichocereus validus. This plant grows in the Huntington Botanical Garden, but this species has not been found outside the Botanical Garden and most plants that are found in the wild are identified as Trichocereus terscheckii or one of its associated species. It is definitely possible to come across this plant on the botanical market, labeled as Trichocereus terscheckii, Trichocereus werdermannianus, trichocereus validus etc. There are countless forms and intermediates that belong to this complex and there is a great amount of variety within the large Andean Trichocereus species. Trichocereus pasacana is another closely related species.

Jordan Caleija

Rodni Kisar

The Fields Garden Validus, photo by Terrapin

The Fields Shed Validus, photo by Terrapin

If you want to buy some Trichocereus validus seeds, check out our shop

Trichocereus litoralis – Echinopsis chiloensis ssp. litoralis

This beautiful Trichocereus species is definitely closely related to Trichocereus chiloensis and the current taxonomy is treating it as a variety or subspecies to it. Trichocereus litoralis always was a problematic species because there are so many intermediate forms between Trichocereus chiloensis and Trichocereus litoralis that it is extremely difficult to draw the line somewhere. While some treat it as part of Trichocereus chiloensis, some others disagree and treat it as a separate species. Personally, I think that the whole group of plants surrounding Trichocereus chiloensis is very variable and we should simply respect that plants can be related to each other and at the same time, look a little bit different. The species is also very closely related to Trichocereus skottsbergii, which I also regard as a variety of Trichocereus chiloensis/Echinopsis chiloensis.

Origin of E.litoralis:

Chile. Growing mostly around the coast line. Coquimbo

Synonyms of T.litoralis:

Echinopsis litoralis, Cereus litoralis, Trichocereus chiloensis var. litoralis, Trichocereus chilensis var. litoralis, Cereus chilensis,

The type location is in Zapallar, north of Valparaiso near the coast of Chile. The species is widely distributed all across the coast up to Los Vilos. The many radial spines are needle-like, while the middle spines are pretty strong and thick and up to 3 cm long. It has 9-28 radial spines and 3-6 middle spines.

Trichocereus chiloensis ssp. litoralis gets between 1-2 meters tall. It has a very dark green color and and a maximum diameter of 10-15 centimeters.

Ribs of Echinopsis chiloensis ssp.litoralis:

15-22, areoles approximately 1-2 centimeters apart of each other.

Flowers of Trichocereus litoralis:

Trichocereus litoralis has a white flower, which is extremely similar to the one on Trichocereus chiloensis. The flowers are up to 15 centimeters long, which is on the lower end of the scale for Trichocerei.

Fruit of E.litoralis:

Round, dark green. Up to 5 Centimeters in diameter

Where to buy seeds and cuttings of Trichocereus litoralis?

You can get some seeds of Trichocereus litoralis in my shop.

Pic: Richard Hipp! Thank you very much!

Have a look at this beautiful picture of Trichocereus litoralis growing along the coast line in Chile.

The flower of Trichocereus litoralis is extremely beautiful and can be used in hybrid breeding. Unfortunately, those plants take very long until they reach adulthood.

The photos below: Photos: Ármin Bindics

Photos below: Pedro Lopez Artes

Ulrich Hörner

Trichocereus tarmaensis / Echinopsis tarmaensis

Trichocereus tarmaensis Rauh & Backeberg – Deser. Cact. Nov. 20. 1956

Trichocereus tarmaensis is a close relative of Trichocereus cuzcoensis that was described as a separate species. There are various differences between Trichocereus cuzcoensis and Trichocereus tarmaensis, and some forms of Trichocereus knuthianus are considered to be synonymous with Trichocereus tarmaensis as well.

Trichocereus tarmaensis reaches a size of 2 meters and is pupping from the base. It has 7-9 ribs that are approximately 2 centimeters wide, rounded at the top and with very distinct V-notches above the areoles. The areoles are approx. 2-2,5 centimeters apart with a diameter of 9 millimeters. Young growth areoles have a very fine brown wool that changes it´s color to a darker brown. It has 3-6 radial spines that are between 1 and 3 cm long. It often has one very large downward pointing spine that is up to 10 centimeters long. The plant usually has one of those middle spines. Old spine growth changes its color very soon to a gray, similar to what we know from Trichocereus cuzcoensis.

Flower of E.tarmaensis:

White, very similar or identical to some of the spiny forms of Trichocereus cuzcoensis or  Trichocereus peruvianus. The tube has brown hairs and the fruit reaches a maximum diameter of 5 centimeters.

Type location:

Central peru, Tarma in Peru at around 3000 meters.

Trichocereus tarmaensis looks very similar to Trichocereus tulhyacensis and both species are hard to distinguish if do not have the luck to observe them during the flowering phase . The flower of Trichocereus tulhuyacensis is pink, which is something that does not apply to any other Trichocereus species from this complex. If your Trichocereus has a reddish to pink flower, it´s not Trichocereus tarmaensis but Trichocereus tulhuyacensis or another close relative. Both Trichocereus tarmaensis and Trichocereus tulhuayacensis are very rare and mislabeled anyways. Karel Knize is selling seed of this type under the name KK2148 Trichocereus tarmaensis .

This picture shows a seedgrown specimen that was sold through the SAB shop in Australia.

When looking at this pic, it gets obvious that this type is VERY similar to some types of Trichocereus cuzcoensis, and even has similarities to a KK242. I do not think that specimens of KK2148  could be recognized as such without knowing the label. They are simply synonymous with some types of Trichocereus cuzcoensis. This species grows at around 3000 meters altitude.

Photo: S. Preiss

Below: Some photos from Tarma. The first one does not show a Trichocereus, but the others show some of the wild forms in between Trichocereus tarmaensis and Trichocereus knuthianus.

Trichocereus grandiflorus / rowleyi (Echinopsis grandiflora)

Trichocereus grandiflorus is a cactus from the genus Trichocereus. Its status is highly questionable as a correct species and the opinions are as varied as the names it carried. Joel Lodé has listed Trichocereus grandiflorus as Trichocereus rowleyi right now, while Anderson listed it as a synonym of Echinopsis huascha in his Cactus Lexicon. Please note that some people also refer to this plant as Echinopsis grandiflora, but this name is also used by Echinopsis eyriesii v. grandiflora and the older name has priority.

Synonyms of Trichocereus grandiflorus:

Lobivia grandiflora, Lobivia grandiflorus, Helianthocereus grandiflora, Helianthocereus grandiflorus, Helianthocereus huascha, Trichocereus rowleyi, Echinopsis huascha

Trichocereus grandiflorus was moved around between the genera  a lot in the past. It is genetically close to both Lobivia and Soehrensia, which is why it was sometimes included there. Friedrich et al. listed it as Echinopsis grandiflora. Anderson then listed it as a synonym to Echinopsis calochlora in his CACTUS LEXICON. Joel Lodé lists it as Trichocereus rowleyi. Schlumpberger lists it as Soehrensia grandiflora (Schlumpberger).

T.grandiflorus Flower:

The flowers of Trichocereus grandiflorus are often red and/or show various variations of red flowers. There are many hybrids, which is why the flower color is relatively unrelaible. There also are versions of flowers that are white in color and between 15-25 Centimeters in size. The tube is usually very hairy, but there are countless hybrids with all kinds of flower colors available on the open market.

Origin of Trichocereus grandiflorus:

Argentina, especially around Catamarca. The original description refers to a plant from a private collection and it is suspected that Trichocereus grandiflorus is extremely close to Trichocereus huascha and might even be part of this species.

The original description as Lobivia grandiflora came from Britton & Rose. Because of that, the plant was labeled as a Lobivia in most classic cactus literature. In addition, the title “Grandiflorus”, which roughly means “Large Flower” makes a lot of sense because most Lobivias usually have smaller flowers. The large flower size for a Lobivia shows that it is not a very normal Lobivia either. The collector Fric, who labeled it Chamaecereus giganteus (same principle because most Chamaecereus are tiny Lobivia), originally introduced the plant into the market, but since it was so different from Chamaecereus, this did not last long. Backeberg wanted to put it in his own problematic Genus Helianthocereus due to the diurnal flowers, but this flawed system was not adapted. Eventually, the plant ended up in Trichocereus, where it was until the restructuring made by Friedrich et al.

Cultivation of Trichocereus rowleyi (ex GF):

Trichocereus grandiflorus is a very hardy plant that can grow a lot during just one growing season if watered accordingly. The plant is able to tolerate some light frost but I would not recommend trying it out to the limit. I keep them at around 10° Celsius during the wintertime in a bright and well-ventilated room. I do not water them during the wintertime and only start watering again in March.

Buy Trichocereus grandiflorus / Seeds or Plants:

This plant is available every now on then on marketplace sites like Ebay or Amazon. In addition, many growers use it to produce hybrids. The Californian nursery Sacred Succulents has some colored Grandiflora hybrids and they sell seed every now an then. You can also try to make a post at our Trichocereus group at https://facebook.com/groups/trichocereus   because there are some growers there who give some away every now and then.

Trichocereus grandiflorus also shows similarities to Trichocereus schickendantzii and some even consider them close relatives. It´s sometimes difficult to keep the two apart and growers or collectors mix them up all the time. The same applies to Trichocereus huascha, which differs from Trichocereus grandiflorus through its spination.

Due to the fact that there are so many misidentified Trichocereus grandiflorus, or plants that are identified as Trichocereus huascha but are actually GF, a large part of the photos that can be seen online show something else. This whole confusion is worst with small and juvenile plants. Trichocereus grandiflorus is MULTI-Ribbed and grows columnar. Its higher rib count and the strange pupping behavior in combination with shorter spines than T. huascha and its typical pupping style at the base make it possible to identify it reliably though. The pups almost look like little balls on the base of the plant while Trichocereus schickendanzii forms large clusters that can get up to 1-2 meters wide. The problem with Trichocereus grandiflorus is that the original description was written after a collection plant, which may or may not have already been a hybrid of Trichocereus huascha.

Before we get to the pics, let me first take the time to say thank you to Prier, who donated those amazing pics. Thanks Prier!

Trichocereus rowleyi hybrid – Photo credit: Jarek Tuszyński

Trichocereus rowleyi hybrid – Photo credit: Jarek Tuszyński

Trichocereus rowleyi hybrid – Photo credit: Jarek Tuszyński

A very typical Trichocereus grandiflorus Photo Credit: Dinkum

Trichocereus scopulicola x Trichocereus grandiflorus Zelly hybrid Jeremy Jones

A typical Trichocereus grandiflorus, labeled as Trichocereus huascha (Randy)

Another typical T. grandiflorus, labeled as T. huascha. Roger Kidd geograph.org.uk ,_Ashington,_

Another typical T. grandiflorus, labeled as T. huascha. by Daderot -_Botanischer_Garten_Freiburg

In comparison to this, here are Trichocereus huascha and Trichocereus schickendantzii:

Trichocereus huascha Echinopsis huascha stickpen

Trichocereus schickendantzii Echinopsis schickendantzii Gus 2

Note the differences in regards to the flower. White versions of Trichocereus grandiflorus are almost always misidentified Trichocereus schickendantzii, Trichocereus shaferi, or true hybrids involving T. huascha or T. grandiflorus that resulted in a white flower.

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Trichocereus knuthianus (Echinopsis knuthiana)

Trichocereus knuthianus is a plant that can be found in many parts of Peru. As a species, it is much more diverse than the clone that it is mostly reduced to and there are various forms that belong into the context of Trichocereus knuthianus.  In addition, there are intermediates with Trichocereus schoenii, Trichocereus tarmaensis and Trichocereus cuzcoensis.

Alternative name: Echinopsis knuthiana

Synonyms: Trichocereus knuthiana, Trichocereus knuthianus, Trichocereus cuzcoensis var. knuthianus, Cereus knuthianus, Azureocereus deflexispinus, Cereus deflexispinus, Trichocereus tarmaensis, Trichocereus peruvianus var. Tarma, Trichocereus crassiarboreus, Trichocereus schoenii, Echinopsis schoenii, Echinopsi tarmaensis (not all, but some of them clearly belong into the knuthianus context as well)

Though Trichocereus knuthianus is still considered a correct species with the name Echinopsis knuthiana, it is closely related to Trichocereus cuzcoensis and Trichocereus peruvianus. There was never any good DNA testing done to verify or question this, which is why it is on our short list of species that we´ll test for our upcoming book on the genus Trichocereus. In my opinion, it is a relative of Trichocereus cuzcoensis. We will find out how related exactly once we´ve ran some tests.

Trichocereus knuthianus was discovered and described by Curt Backeberg on the upper course of the Rio Marañon. The plant was named after Graf F.M.Knuth, who was Curt Backeberg´s co-author in the book KAKTUS ABC and a financier for some of his trips.

Most plants that are available on the open market were originally sourced from Friedrich Ritters Seed list. Ritter´s collection number of Trichocereus knuthianus was FR567, sometimes also labeled as Trichocereus knuthianus f. pachanoi or Trichocereus knuthianus FR 677! This strain can be found in collections throughout the World though it is most common in Australia.

Ritter wrote that it´s probably synonymous with Trichocereus tarmaensis and I agree to a certain degree. In addition, he shared the opinion that Trichocereus knuthianus is actually a variety of Trichocereus cuzcoensis, which is most likely correct as well. Trichocereus cuzcoensis only grows in Cusco, but its close relatives grow all over Peru, e.g. Trichocereus tarmaensis, Trichocereus schoenii, etc.

Curt Backeberg, on the other hand did absolutely not agree with Ritter´s attempt to nullify Backeberg´s species, as it would mean that his newly described “species” would´ve become invalid. Generally speaking, Friedrich Ritter knew that plant very well .

Mature plants of Echinopsis knuthiana in habitat tend to have that tree-like rounded log-shape that you can observe on Trichocereus cuzcoensis too. Most other Trichocereus species do not form such  a rounded and tree-like stump, which is another indicator for its genetic proximity to the Cuzcoensis complex.

Trichocereus knuthianus is very widespread and grows in Central Peru and some Departments that surround it.

Title photo: Sams Plants

Above: Fields Knuthianus aka Fields Knuth

This Picture shows FR 677. Unfortunately not a very good pic:

Rodni Kisar

Photos below: Delia and Rodni Kisar