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 chiloensis (Echinopsis chiloensis) T.chilensis

Trichocereus chiloensis, also known as Trichocereus chilensis or Echinopsis chiloensis, is a columnar cactus from Chile. It is closely related to Trichocereus terscheckii and something like the Chilean version of the large Andean Trichocereus species.

Current name:

Echinopsis chiloensis H.Friedrich & G.D.

Synonyms of T. chiloensis:

T. chilensis, T. chiloensis, Echinopsis chilensis, E. chiloensis, Cactus chiloensis, cereus chiloensis, Trichocereus skottsbergii, Trichocereus nigripilus, Echinopsis skottsbergii, Echinopsis nigripilus, Trichocereus spinibarbis. Trichocereus litoralis, Echinopsis litoralis, Trichocereus bolligerianus, Echinopsis bolligerianus

It´s debatable whether or not Trichocereus litoralis and Trichocereus coquimbanus are synonymous with Trichocereus chiloensis, but there is a clear connection and intermediates exist. 

Some people consider Eulychnia eburnea to be synonymous with Tr. chiloensis / E. chiloensis, but I disagree vehemently. The plants look kinda similar, but the flowers of them are very different and clearly belong to the genus Eulychnia.

This Trichocereus species is the predominant Trichocereus in Chile. The Name “chiloensis” is the taxonomically correct one, but there´s a very high chance this was typo as the name was supposed to mean”Chilean Trichocereus” and not “Trichocereus from Chiloe”. T. chilensis doesn not grow anywhere near the island of Chiloe. This 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 chilensis should be ignored because it is the taxonomic equivalent of 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 chiloensis 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 chiloensis is a diurnal 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 or regional forms:

Trichocereus chiloensis var. eburneus

Trichocereus chiloensis pantholipes

Trichocereus chiloensis borealis

Trichocereus chiloensis var. australis

Trichocereus chiloensis var. conjungens

Trichocereus chiloensis var. skottsbergii

Pedro Lopez Artes

Trichocereus chiloensis var. litoralis

Pedro Lopez Artes

Cultivation of E. chiloensis:

Trichocereus chiloensis is a very tough cactus, just like many other cacti from Bolivian or Chilean deserts . 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 chiloensis in a bright and well-ventilated room between October and April until there are no more night frosts. Trichocereus chiloensis 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 chiloensis 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 humus substrate.

Growing Trichocereus chiloensis from Seed: Trichocereus chiloensis 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 chiloensis. 

Right now I have a terrific strain of Trichocereus chilensis ssp. litoralis in my shop. Check it out here. 

Trichocereus Chilensis – Huntington Botanical Garden by Richard Hipp

Jimmy Baikovicius -Echinopsis_chiloensis_(2) Trichocereus chiloensis

Jimmy Baikovicius -Echinopsis_chiloensis

Jimmy Baikovicius -Echinopsis_chiloensis_(2) Trichocereus chiloensis 22

Jimmy Baikovicius Echinopsis_chiloensis

Echinopsis chilensis by penarc

Echinopsis chilensis by penarc

scott zona Chusquea_cumingii_by_Scott_Zona

by jorge barrios Cactus Chile

by Stan Shebs

Stan Shebs Trichocereus_chiloensis

Stan shebs Trichocereus_chiloensis

milodon3 -Quisco

pato novia Leucostele_chiloensis_(littoralis)

Raffi Kojian Gardenology.org

Jason Hollinger Echiopsis_chiloensis

matthias ott Echinopsis_sp

Trichocereus chiloensis ssp. skottsbergii Pato_Novoa

milodon3 Echinopsis_Chiloensis

jason hollinger Echinopsis_chiloensisyazz Echinopsis_chiloensis_Yazz

by penarc Echinopsis_chiloensis_Colla

penarc Echinopsis_chiloensis

by daderot Echinopsis_chiloensis_-_Palmengarten_Frankfurt

daderot -Echinopsis_chiloensis_-_Botanical_Garden_in_Kaisaniemi,_Helsinki

dick culbert Echinopsis_chiloensis

dick culbert Echinopsis_chiloensis_

Photos below: Trichocereus chilonsis Anda Collo Braulio Gonzales

Trichocereus chiloensis_v. longispinus from the Fields Collection (Rodni Kisar)

T.chiloensis (Pedro Lopez Artes)

E. chilensis v.longispinus (Rodni and Delia Kisar)

   Photo by Michelle Killen, culture plant in the United States

Chilensis v. longispinus Delia Kisar

Photo by Michelle Killen

Pedro Lopez Artes   Photo: Jason Hollinger 

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Also check out our other articles in our Trichocereus species database.

The history of the PC Cactus / PC Trichocereus clone

Trichocereus deserticolus / Echinopsis deserticola

Trichocereus glaucus – Echinopsis glauca

Trichocereus glaucus, also known as Echinopsis glauca, is a Peruvian Trichocereus species described by Friedrich Ritter.

Friedrich Ritter original photo

Trichocereus glaucus – Foto: Friedrich Ritter

Origin of Trichocereus glaucus:

Peru ( South Peru ), Arequipa (Rio Tambo), Chile. In Chile, this plant is closely related to Trichocereus fulvilanus and Trichocereus deserticolus.

Description of Trichocereus glaucus / Echinopsis glauca:

Trichocereus glaucus can get between 1,5-2 meters tall and is a prostrate/creeping species that you often find hanging down slopes and cliffs. This trait is very distinct in the variety Trichocereus glaucus var. pendens. The color of the skin is very glaucous and small specimens look absolutely like the type of plants that are labeled Trichocereus macrogonus / Echinopsis macrogona today.  Spiny, dark blue versions from the complex around T. peruvianus. However, macrogonus grows columnar while this species tends to bend over with age. New growth is very glaucous.

Areoles of Echinopsis glauca:

The areoles are dark brown to gray in color and approximately 2,5 centimeters apart of each other. Similar to other plants related to Trichocereus peruvianus, the plant has a diameter of up to 10 centimeters and the areoles are gray felted. The spines look a bit like the ones on Trichocereus cuzcoensis and old growth has a typical satin white glow that is common on this species. Trichocereus glaucus has 6-9 ribs, 3-6 middle spines and 8-11 radial spines. The middle spines are 5-10 centimeters and the radial spines 1-2 centimeters long.  New spine growth is black to brown and turns gray with age.

Flowers of T. glaucus:

White, just like almost every other Trichocereus from this complex. The diameter is very variable and usually is between 15-22 centimeters. Trichocereus glaucus is a night-flowering species with green, round fruits. However, the hairy flowers usually stay open until the next morning.

Fruit of E. glauca:

Round, green, and 3 centimeters thick.

Type locality: Lower part of the Rio Tambo in the department Arequipa.

Trichocereus glaucus is very similar to Trichocereus chalaensis and grows in a similar way. We think that Trichocereus chalaensis might be synonymous with Ritter´s Trichocereus glaucus. Ritter´s field number of Trichocereus glaucus was FR270. We distributed seeds of Trichocereus glaucus various times in the past and all ended up amazingly beautiful. It´s a very nice species.

Buy Trichocereus glaucus seeds:

Trichocereus glaucus aka Echinopsis glauca is extremely rare and most plants on the market will probably come labeled as “Trichocereus peruvianus” or “Trichocereus macrogonus”. It is common occurence for some Peruvian cactus collectors to label all glaucous Trichocereus species with this name. This is obviously wrong and causes chaos. We sometimes have plants of this species in our Trichocereus Facebook group, which can be found here: https://facebook.com/groups/trichocereus

Cultivation of Echinopsis glauca:

Trichocereus glaucus is a very resilient grower and likes to be watered well in summer. In winter, they should be kept as dry as possible at around 10° Celsius. Seed germinates very well and the plant is usually very tough. That´s also caused by its drought tolerance, which is very typical for these kinds of plants. The species will probably tolerate temperatures between -5° to -7° Celsius over very short time, but I would not stress it and this also depends on many other factors, like general health and dryness. I would recommend keeping at no lower than 10° Celsius in winter.

Varieties of E. glauca: Trichocereus glaucus var. pendens. This variety does only grow hanging down cliffs and small hills. This variety only grows at one location in Chile and is extremely rare. This local population is in the south of Arica, Camarca in Chile. Backeberg suggested that this would be his Trichocereus uyumpaensis, but Friedrich Ritter vehemently disagreed with that. More information is necessary about this topic.

Below: Trichocereus Glaucus – Fotos: Auxin

Translation of Ritter´s description (loosely)

This species forms shrubs the size of 1 – 2 meters and often several meters in diameter, sprouting mainly from shoots that lay sideways on the ground. This plant rarely pups from the top or upper parts. The shoots are 5 – 8 inches thick, erect, later lying in the lower parts, the new shoot blue-green, later gray-green.

Ribs: 7-9, very broad, obtuse, 7.5 to 13 mm high, 15-25 mm wide, notched, with transverse furrows that do not reach down to the separating grooves of the ribs,
areoles: grey felted, 1/2-3/4 inches in diameter, 1 to 2 inches free removal, let down by the humps in the notches
Spines: In the new shoot black to brown, becoming gray, straight, rigid
Marginal spines: 7-10, directed laterally, the lower and lateral 8 to 15 mm long, coarse needle-shaped, somewhat flattened, the upper the upper stronger and not sharply separated from the Central spines.
Central spines: 3-6, very spread apart, subulate in the middle, but usually closer to the top edge and almost in the position of an edge of spine, below 1.5 mm thick
Flower: Not far from the apex, 13 to 19 centimeters long, fragrant, opening in the evening, the morning still open,
Ovary: Green with fleshy green, narrowly triangular, 2-5 mm long, pointed scales and large scales raised bases. The flowers are covered with brown/black hairs.
Partition against the nectar chamber 3-4 mm thick, tube-shaped, 13 to 23 mm long, to the stylus 1to 2 mm wide, brownish, almost openly, with nectar

Tubes:

In addition funnel shaped, 40-65 mm long, the top 2 to 3 cm wide, pale green interior, exterior gray-green, with triangular points, 7.5 to 10 mm long, dark green scales and tufts of hair as on the ovary.
Stamens: white, greenish below, insertions missing on the top 2 to 3 centimeters of the tube to a ring on the hem, pouch pale brown, approximately at half height petals standing
Stylus: pale green, white or pale brownish above, 10 to 11 cm in length, with 14 to 18 mm fall on the 13-16 spread pale yellow stigma lobes, between the pouches or outstanding.

German original description / Deutsche Original Beschreibung:

Büsche von 1 meter bis 2 meter höhe und oft mehreren Metern Durchmesser, sprossend hauptsächlich unten von liegenden Trieben, weniger oben sprossend. Triebe 5 bis 8 Zentimeter dick, aufrecht, später in den unteren Teilen liegend, im Neutrieb blaugrün, später mehr graugrün.
Rippen: 7-9, sehr breit, stumpf, 7,5 bis 13 mm hoch, 15 bis 25 mm breit, gekerbt, mit Querfurchen, die nicht bis zu den Trennfurchen der Rippen hinabreichen,
Areolen: Graufilzig, 1/2-3/4 Zentimeter Durchmesser, 1bis 2 Zentimeter freie Entfernung, , von den Höckern in die Kerben hinabreichend
Stacheln: Im Neutrieb schwarz bis braun, , vergrauend, gerade, starr
Randstacheln: 7 bis 10, seitlich gerichtet, die unteren und seitlichen 8 bis 15 mm lang, derb nadelförmig, etwas abgeflacht, die oberen die Oberen stärker und nicht scharf von den Mittelstacheln gesondert.
Mittelstacheln: 3 bis 6, sehr gespreizt, pfriemlich in der Mitte, aber meist näher dem oberen Rand und fast in der Stellung eines Randstachels, unten 1,5 mm dick
Blüte: Nicht weit weg vom Scheitel, 13 bis 19 zentimeter lang, duftend, abends öffnend, morgens noch offen,  
Fruchtknoten: Grün mit fleischigen grünen, schmal dreieckigen, 2-5 mm langen spitzen Schuppen und großen erhabenen Schuppenbasen. Mit starken schwarzen oder braunschwarzen Wollhaaren.
Trennwand gegen die Nektarkammer 3-4 mm dick, diese tubisch, 13 bis 23 mm lang,um den Griffel 1bis 2 mm weit, bräunlich, fast offen, mit Nektar

Röhren: Darüber trichterig, 40 bis 65 mm lang, oben 2 bis 3 cm weit, innen blaß grünlich , außen graugrün, mit dreieckigen Spitzen, 7,5 bis 10 mm langen dunkelgrünen Schuppen und Haarbüscheln wie auf dem Fruchtknoten.
Staubfäden: weiß, unten grünlich, Insertionen fehlen auf den obersten 2 bis 3 Zentimetern der Röhre, bis auf einen Ring auf dem Saum, Beutel blassbraun, etwa bei halber Petalen Höhe stehend
Griffel: blassgrün, oben weiß oder blass bräunlich, 10 bis 11 cm lang, wovon 14 bis 18 mm auf die 13-16 gespreizten blaßgelben Narbenäste  fallen, zwischen den Beuteln oder sie überragend.

Photos of Trichocereus glaucus / Echinopsis glauca

Jeff Alaback / The version of Trichocereus glaucus from Sacred Succulents

Jeff Alaback

Patrick Noll

Jeremy Jones

Jeremy Jones

Jeremy Jones

Jeremy Jones

Patrick Noll

Delia Kisar

Delia Kisar

Delia Kisar

Sams Plants

Sebastian Preiss

Patrick Noll

Rodni Kisar

Cactus Affinity T. glaucus v. pendens

Sams Plants

In comparison to this species, check out closely related species:

Trichocereus chalaensis Cactus Affinity Echinopsis chalaensis