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 .

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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

Videos of Trichocereus validus / Echinopsis valida

Trichocereus terscheckii  (Echinopsis terscheckii)

Origin: Trichocereus terscheckii  is a variable species that is a catch-all name for a variety of different forms, some of which form intermediates with other species like Trichocereus atacamensis, Trichocereus taquimbalensis, Trichocereus validus and others.

Trichocereus terscheckii grows around the south of Bolivia, North Argentina (Catamarca, Tucuman, La Rioja, Jujuy, San Juan, Salta) and there are many intermediates between Trichocereus terscheckii, Trichocereus atacamensis, Trichocereus pasacana and Trichocereus validus and some of the lesser known species. The genuine Trichocereus validus is probably just a Bolivian form of Trichocereus validus, but unfortunately it is not often found in nature.

Trichocereus eerdermannianus is actually an intermediate species in between Trichocereus taquimbalensis and Trichocereus terscheckii. Overall, this is a very complex and highly controversial group of plants and only DNA testing can help to clean up the family tree that is hidden inside those beautiful tree-like plants. Personally, I think that all those Andean Trichocereus species are members of a very variable group of plants that belong together and should be treated like that.

Below you can find a description of Trichocereus terschecki, but since there are so many regional forms, there can be plants that don´t fit perfectly, but which still belong to that complex somehow. In addition, there are many natural hybrids and Trichocereus terscheckii hybridizes relatively easy.

Synonyms: Echinopsis terscheckii, Cereus terscheckii, Pilosocereus terscheckii, Cereus fulvispinus, Trichocereus validus, Echinopsis valida, Trichocereus werdermannianus, Cereus werdermannianus, Echinopsis werdermannianus, Cereus validissimus. Besides, some forms of Trichocereus pasacana and Trichocereus atacamensis are synonymous with Trichocereus terscheckii too.

Varieties: In the past, there were descriptions of a plant called Trichocereus terscheckiioides which differed in regard to the phenotype and Trichocereus terscheckii var. montanus.

Cultivation: Trichocereus terscheckii is an amazing plant in culture. They grow very slow compared to other Trichos and don’t require a lot of water. I usually try to give them as much free root run as possible, what is important for their ability to flower. Their growth rate depends on many things, like how they are grown, hoch much water & fertilizer they get, and so on. Plants in habitat grow very slow and sometimes take 50 years to reach a good size. Their mature form is totally different to what they look like as seedlings.

Description: They start off as typical columnar cacti that are pretty fat for their small size and get very big and tall later on. It takes many years till this species produces its characteristic side arms. Trichocereus terscheckii can reach a size of 10-15 meters and a diameter of up to 60 centimeters.

Ribs: 8-15

Areoles: Approx. 2 centimeters in diameter and up to 3-4 centimeters apart from each other.

Spines: 10-16 spines, yellow and up to 10 centimeters long

Flower: White, 15-22 centimeters long, 14 centimeters wide, petals up to 8 centimeters. Tube covered with brown, woolly hair. The variety Trichocereus montanus was said to be less branchy and grew more like a typical columnar. Besides it had a larger diameter. I personally do not accept any varieties because I think that this is just a crazily variable species.

Trichocereus terscheckii and Frost: Trichocereus terscheckii is quite cold hardy and even survives in some areas in the United States. Personally, I would recommend a minimum average temperature of 10° Celsius/50 Fahrenheit, but they are known to survive short night frosts without a problem. However, temperatures should never go below -9°/15.8 Fahrenheit, especially not when they have wet feet. It is also important to keep away rain and moisture during the cold months, because the rain is probably a bigger problem that the cold temperatures. Those plants can stand the cold, but as soon as it´s cold and wet, it´s starting to get dangerous.

Trichocereus terscheckii from Seed: This species is very easy from seed. It requires the same treatment as any other Trichocereus species, but keeping the seed cold over night can help to break up the dormancy. The seed is usually viable for many years and I am sure you can get some Germination as long as the seed does not get older than 10 years. But you get the best germination rates within the first year. Make sure not to sow out too many of them at once, because they become quite fat and need enough space.

Trichocereus terscheckii Seed & live cutting sources: This plant sometimes shows up on Ebay as live cuttings, plants or seeds. You can get a nice strain of Trichocereus terscheckii here in my shop:

The photo above shows a T. werdermannianus, which is an intermediate between T. terscheckii and T. taquimbalensis.

Pic: Peter A. Manfeld

Pic: Pangopaso

Trichocereus terscheckii (KD Botanics)