Trichocereus ‘ICARO DNA’ (Echinopsis)

ICARO DNA is a strain of Trichocereus macrogonus/peruvianus from Peru. They are collected by the reputable vendor Icaro, who has been active for many years now.

Their strain is an extremely blue and spiny Peruvianus strain that comes from the Matucana region on Peru. Everyone who ever grew some of them knows that they are THE epitome of a non-cuzco Peruvianus.
The shop owner Julio & his ICARO DNA shop have been around forever and just earned a reputation for their consistently great quality.

The ICARO seeds were picked up by many shops and ended up being one of the more common strains around Australia and other parts of the world. Those plants are not clones, but grown from Matucana seeds which are genetically diverse.

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure! The Photos were donated by Trichocereus.com.au, SAB member Getafix, Blowng,Naja Naja & Sebastian Preiss! If you want to see some more photos of Icaro DNA, check out our Trichocereus Facebook group: https://facebook.com/groups/trichocereus

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Trichocereus peruvianus from Matucana

Trichocereus peruvianus from Matucana is one of the most sought after types. Matucana is the type locality of Trichocereus peruvianus, which means that in Matucana you can find the most typical plants according to the description. The description was originally made by the Americans Britton & Rose, and the described a plant that must have been somewhere between Trichocereus peruvianus and Trichocereus cuzcoensis. And yes, Trichocereus cuzcoensis plays a part in the history of Trichocereus peruvianus as well. Both are so closely related and exist with many intermediate forms in between that Britton & Rose´s decision to keep them separated from each other was not regarded without criticism.

One of the most typical Matucana Peruvianus types is the ICARO DNA Peruvianus. Icaro Dna made a name for themselves providing great quality seeds that are probably as true as it gets to the original description. To me, when I hear the name MATUCANA, I think of this remarkable type.
Photo: Trichocereus.com.au

Some more Matucana Peruvianus types are the LOS GENTILES Peruvanus from Sacred Succulents and my own Matucana Peruvianus in my shop! Sorry for the promo, but it´s super high quality seeds that you will love!
But now back to the Matucana Perus. Sacred Succulents had the great luck to visit some of them during their South America Field Trips. Here are some of them:

Trichocereus peruvianus, Matucana, Peru

Trichocereus Peruvianus without a field number. Again in Matucana Peru. Very cool Glauceous Tricho, similar to the cultivar Trichocereus Rosei or Trichocereus Glaucus. Pic: Ben Kamm, Sacredsucculents.com! Please support them because they are awesome!

BK08612.4-A Trichocereus peruvianus, Matucana, Peru

Another frosted Peruvianus from the Location in Matucana. Very similar to the Plants that are labeled “Trichocereus Rosei”. Or Trichocerus Glaucus! Pic: Ben Kamm, Sacredsucculents.com!

Another type that is believed to be a Matucana type is the Australian Trichocereus rosei clone. It´s fabulous and one of my absolute favorites. Rosei 2 is DEFINITELY a Matucana…and Rosei 1 most likely. The alternative would be that it comes from Rimac, but I want to show it here too!

This is Rosei 2, just for comparisons:

Some of those plants are sometimes called Trichocereus santaensis, but those are usually thinner and overall closer to Trichocereus pachanoi or sometimes even Trichocereus bridgesii than they are to Trichocereus peruvianus.

Well, that was one of the more typical Trichocereus peruvianus from Matucana. This city in Peru is one of the historic cactus sites, especially for the species Trichocereus peruvianus. Matucana is the type locality of Trichocereus peruvianus, which means that in Matucana you can find the most typical plants. But there is more; many many plants with cuzcoensis genetics. For example, KK242 is from Matucana too! And due to the high number of intermediates between Trichocereus cuzcoensis and Trichocereus peruvianus, it´s sometimes not easy to draw a firm line between them.

This photo shows a fairly typical KK242 from Matucana. The photo comes from K.Trout and his website troutsnotes.com.

And now compare this to this other plant from Matucana:

It´s funny…but that one was sold as KK242 from Matucana too. Just to give you an understanding of what is actually out there.

Sharxx Blue (Trichocereus peruvianus)

The Peruvianus clone SHARXX BLUE is a shortspined Peruvianus clone that was named after the SAB Member Sharxx. It originated from the well known DAWSONS cactus collection and was brought and named by the SAB member PD.
It probably is some kind of Matucana Peruvianus, much like the ICARO DNA type, the Los Gentiles or the Matucana Peruvianus that I have in stock here.

The plants are extremely blue and glaucous. Overall, this type of Trichocereus is one of my all-time favorite plants and it´s a very popular clone among Trichocereus breeders.
There definitely are plants that are similar and which are not genetically identical. Like I said before, there is a large number of various collection sites in Matucana and most of them are similar to the SHARXX BLUE.

This clone is sometimes available from Australian growers that gift or trade away cuttings every now and then. If you are interested in a SHARXX BLUE cutting, you might try to make a posting at the SAB forum. There also are growers that use it to produce Trichocereus hybrids. This year was the first year that Misplant offered some crosses that involved the SHARXX BLUE clone. It is also available from Trichocereus.com.au, who donated the pics below. 31

Photos: Trichocereus.com.au 

Trichocereus ‘Los Gentiles’ (Echinopsis)

The Los Gentiles strain is mostly known through the California based Nursery Sacred Succulents, who has been offering crosses with this type for years. They sell both seeds and cloned plants, which is why there is a large generic diversity.

LOS GENTILES is Trichocereus peruvianus / Trichocereus macrogonus strain with a frosty epidermis and the color of the spines varies between Gold and reddish brown. Most of the spines have black tips and the ribs indicate that it is closer to Trichocereus peruvianus than it is to other strains. It definitely is an interesting population and I will add further info about it later on.

It is very similar to Trichocereus peruvianus strains from the area to the area around Matucana. Outside the United States, this clone is rare. There are a few local populations that look very much like it.LOS GENTILES is NOT the same strain as Trichocereus peruvianus ‘Icaro DNA’, but these two strains are so similar that I am very positive that they come from the same area in Peru. Sacred Succulents are the only source for this type of Trichocereus apart from the people who bought them there and sold or traded them.
Trichocereus ‘LOS GENTILES’ is an extremely fascinating population. And even if that´s not the case, it still is a fantastic Trichocereus with a deep blue epidermis and strong spines that have written “Dangerous” all over them.

Pics by Noah Reams

Pic by Stillman