Echinopsis macrogona / Trichocereus macrogonus in Matucana II

In this chapter I want to show you some of the wild populations of Echinopsis macrogona from Matucana. The species is partially synonymous with Echinopsis peruviana, which is why there is quite some overlay between these two. The name Echinopsis macrogona has a long and troubled history, because most authors have their own opinion about it. Personally, I consider the name Cereus macrogonus (which resulted in later descriptions as Trichocereus macrogonus and Echinopsis macrogona) to be too problematic to count. Its original description lacks information on crucial details such as the country of origin and this leads to the massive confusion surrounding it. Seed sellers carry various species under the name, e.g. Echinopsis peruviana, Echinopsis pachanoi, Trichocereus werdermannianus (currently seen as form of Echinopsis terscheckii), Trichocereus taquimbalensis, Trichocereus tacaquirensis, Echinopsis lageniformis/ Trichocereus bridgesii, Trichocereus santaensis, Trichocereus terscheckii, Trichocereus schoenii, etc. There´s almost no species that this name hasn´t been slapped on, which makes comparisons between plants from the commercial market completely pointless. If I would get a Dollar every time someone tells me that “x plant can´t be Trichocereus macrogonus because they seed grown plant looks completely different” I would be a made man. 

How to differentiate Trichocereus macrogonus / Echinopsis macrogona and Trichocereus peruvianus / Echinopsis peruviana?

In this article we show some photos from Matucana, which is the type locality of Echinopsis peruviana. These plants are often referred to as Trichocereus macrogonus and people who identify these plants tend to identify them as Trichocereus macrogonus due to their spine color. I personally do not think it makes a lot of sense to differentiate between Echinopsis peruviana and Echinopsis macrogona as the whole complex is incredibly variable. Differences between a form from Matucana and one from another Peruvian city do not mean that something has to be a different species. The people who get to choose which differences draw clear lines between two related species are the authors who describe them, and so far I have not read a conclusive argumentation on clear boundaries between Echinopsis macrogona and Echinopsis peruviana and I think DNA testing is the one tool that should be used to decide this. However, since there is no country of origin, type locality or Herbarium piece of the original Cereus macrogonus, which makes it impossible to compare other populations against it. And this is pretty much the crux of the problem. 

Echinopsis macrogona / Trichocereus macrogonus Huariquina in Matucana

Below you can see some photos from Huariquina in Matucana. All plants there are very beautiful and among the most visually pleasing Trichocereus species we know. Icaro DNA and Los Gentiles look very much like this. The plants grow columnar, but with a clear tendency to lean over every now and then. They do not really grow prostrate, but they don´t always grow a 100% columnar either. 

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For example, this page contains all the necessary info on Trichocereus macrogonus / Echinopsis macrogona. You can also read our database page about the species Echinopsis peruvianus here. 

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Copyright: Chavin Herbalists

Echinopsis macrogona / Trichocereus macrogonus Pomolargo

Pomolargo is another Peruvianus population that is a glowing example for the beauty of this species. 

Echinopsis macrogona / Trichocereus macrogonus Collana Roja in Matucana

Collana Roja is another Matucana population that is typical for Echinopsis macrogona. The spines are brow, sometimes even red, and this is one of the only traits that are somewhat usable to differentiate between Echinopsis peruviana and Echinopsis macrogona. Again, most are mostly synonymous anyways, which is underlined through the fact that Echinopsis macrogona was never found again, from the time on that Britton and Rose wrote their description of Trichocereus peruvianus. That alone speaks volumes and the reason is that all the plants which were formerly identified as Cereus macrogonus were later attributed to Britton and Rose´s name. There are differences between the two descriptions, but they are rather small- 

Copyright: Chavin Herbalists

Echinopsis macrogona / Trichocereus macrogonus Collana Pichu in Matucana

Collana Pichu is very similar in regards to the phenotype and gets very close to Collana Roja. 

Copyright: Chavin Herbalists

Echinopsis macrogona / Trichocereus macrogonus Sucro in Matucana

In Sucro we´ve seen some plants that were relatively short spined or even spineless. There´s quite a few regional forms of this species that is spineless, but these plants are usually very spiny as seedlings and only lose their spines later on. In particular, we´ve grown some seeds of Collana Roja, which are quite spiny as seedlings and we hope they will lose their spines later on.

Copyright: Chavin Herbalists

Trichocereus peruvianus from Matucana: Huariquiña

Trichocereus peruvianus from Huariquiña!

Hey guys, just wanted to give you a preview of the upcoming Trichocereus Matucana strains.

Huariquiña, not far away from Matucana. There are also some photos from that site from the Sacred Succulents Field Trip. Overall, this is a fantastic strain with beautiful plants that grow prostrate at times. 100% authentic and genuine Trichocereus peruvianus. Available soon. If you want to be notified about it just subscribe to the newsletter at trichocereus.net/newsletter and you get a message when they become available.

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 

ICARO DNA (Trichocereus peruvianus)

The ICARO DNA is not actually a clone but a seller who is very well know for it´s high quality Trichocereus seeds. The plants grow into amazingly dark to blue-green colored columns with strong spines. Sometimes, those spines are also dark brown colored and are among the most beautiful Trichocereus types I know. Personally, it´s definitely one of my all-time favorite cacti, simply based on the impressing look.

ICARO DNA sold a lot of seeds of this type in the past, which is why there is a large genetic variety available on the market. There also are certain clones that most likely were sourced from ICARO, such as the SHARXX BLUE or MAYBE the Rosei 2.
Apart from seedgrown material, there also is a relatively common clone that´s been traded around by people of the Trichocereus community, but the larger number of seedgrown plants make a differentiation hard.

I do have quite a few pics of this interesting type and I´ll post further updates about it as soon as I get more pics. Those been around for at least ten years now.

Photo: Trichocereus.com.au

These picture were donated by Prier. Thank you very much!

Plants that look like this were oftenly labeled as Trichocereus macrogonus and chances are that you bought some of these labeled as such. Their cold hardiness and soil requirements are pretty much identical to the ones from other Tr. peruvianus.

Pic: Courtesy of Trichocereus.com.au

The ones in these pics were grown in Australia, where this type is a bit more common than in Europe. If you are looking for one, just send me a message at EG[ät]trichocereus.net or you could try making a post in our Trichocereus Facebook group where it shows up every now and then as well.

Other Cacti from the Sacred Succulents Field Trips

Hi Guys, in this post I will show you some of the other cacti from the Sacred Succulents Field trips. The copyright of all those pics is: Ben Kamm, Sacredsucculents.com

BK08530.1 Mahueniopsis boliviana, Tambillo, Bolivia

This majestic Mahueniopsis is from Bolivia. Sacred Succulents gave away seeds of that plant, which was visited during the 2008 Sacred Succulent Field Trip

Haageocereus sp, Matucana, Peru

This very nice Haageocereus grows in Matucana, which is the home of many amazing Trichocereus species as well. There were no seed collected from that species.

 BK09508.4 Borzicactus fieldianus, Chavin, Ancash, Peru

This interesting Borzicactus is definitely a Trichocereus Lookalike that you should have seen. At first, it looked a little big like a Rauhocereus but the strong segmented areoles are a lot more dominant than on other Rauhocereus species. This plant was visited during the 2009 Field Trips! Copyright: Ben Kamm

 Rebutia sp, Rio Lope Mendoza, Cochabamba, Bolivia 2010

Have a look at this barely visible cactus in between rocks and dead plants. That´s a pretty typical Rebutia population and it gives you a better understanding why cacti are sometimes so hard to find. I am pretty sure that there still are a lot of new species out there to be discovered, that are just not visible enough to be found. There were no seeds collection from those plants.

Lobivia sp, Puya habitat near Rodeo,  Cochabamba, Bolivia 2010

Cereus sp, descent to Chujllas, Cochabamba, Bolivia 2010

Echinopsis sp, descent to Chujllas, Cochabamba, Bolivia 

Neoraimondia herzogiana, descent to Chujllas, Cochabamba, Bolivia 2010

Neoraimondia herzogiana, circa Aquile, Cochabamba, Bolivia

 Harrisia, descent to Chujllas, Cochabamba, Bolivia

Opuntioid, descent to Chujllas, Cochabamba, Bolivia

BK10508.3 Harrisia tetracantha, Tiatako, Cochabamba, Bolivia

BK10506.1 Cleistocactus buchtienii, Cerro San Pedro, Cochabamba, Bolivia

Echinopsis sp, Cerro San Pedro, Cochabamba, Bolivia

Harrisia tetracantha, Cerro San Pedro, Cochabamba, Bolivia

BK08602.2 Lobivia sp. Isla del Sol, Bolivia

Oreocereus psuedofossulatus, Bolivia (N. Logan)

Haageocereus, Vilcabamba, Ecuador (N. Logan)

Matucana haynei, Matucana, Peru

BK08611.3 Haageocereus tenuis, Jardin Botanico, Parque de las Leyendas, Lima, Peru

BK08611.1 Cleistocactus xylorhizus, Parque de las Leyendas, Lima, Peru

BK08606.3 Cleistocactus sp. Pasto Grande, Yungas, Bolivia

BK08606.6 Yungasocereus inquisivensis, Pasto Grande, Yungas, Bolivia

BK08521.10 Corryocactus erectus

Echinopsis bridgesii, Huachjilla, Bolivia

BK08520.4 Austrocylindropuntia floccosa & BK08520.1 Festuca Taucca, Peru

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Also check out some of our other articles:

Trichocereus riomizquensis Ritter

New Trichocereus photos from the Parque de las Leyendas

BK08612.4 Trichocereus peruvianus, Matucana, Peru

Trichocereus Peruvianus from Matucana. Very cool frosted blue type! Pic: Ben Kamm, sacredsucculents.com

This type is known for its frosted blue epidermis and chances are San Pedros from Matucana are actually the same plant that was originally described as Trichocereus Macrogonus. A whole lot of those Peruvianus specimens from Matucana would actually either be called Trichocereus Macrogonus or Trichocereus Glaucus, because of the Glaucous epidermis.

The Trichocereus plants in Matucana grow at around 2000 meters and Matucana was originally given as the typus location of Trichocereus Peruvianus when Britton & Rose made their description.

Karel Knize is selling Trichocereus Peruvianus from Matucana as KK242. But that´s actually a different type than the one you can see here. KK242 is the name for the collection site and Knize is selling more than 9 different cacti as KK242. Some belong to Trichocereus Cuzcoensis and some others rather belong to Peruvianus. The KK242 that I know have very little in common with the plants shown on those pics. The Matucana Peruvianus that Knize was offering was called Trichocereus Peruvianus KK242 forma Matucana. These pics are from the Sacred Succulents Field Trip om 2008 and they actually gave a whole lot of seed away. I hope to show some of the offspring really soon, because some of my friends were actually lucky enough to get some.

Where to buy seeds and plants of Trichocereus Peruvianus from Matucana?: Well, I do have Matucana seeds in my store, which one be the first place that I would recommend. 😉
In addition, you might ask Sacred Succulents, as they´ve been selling a whole lot of seed. I assume that in the next year or two, there will be some cuttings available from people who actually managed to raise some plants from that seed.
You can sometimes get really cool plants simply labeled as Trichocereus Peruvianus and if you see a dark blue plant with red& golden spines, jump on it. Sometimes, there are cuttings available in our Trichocereus Facebook group but it´s definitely a rare type. But it can´t hurt to ask for a cutting if you are interested in this cool type!

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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

Rosei 1- Trichocereus (Echinopsis)

Both Rosei 1 and Rosei 2 are among the most popular clones in the Trichocereus community. Just like so many great plants, they originated from the Fields collection in Victoria. The name was used in very old cactus literature to label a certain, very blue types of Trichocereus peruvianus / Echinopsis peruviana. This name was mostly applied to the same plants that we label as Trichocereus macrogonus today. The name is mostly synonymous with certain forms of Trichocereus peruvianus.

The name Trichocereus rosei was never an officially described species and that´s why we count both Rosei clones as commercial varieties. Both clones are part of the Fields collection and came to Australia in the early days of cactus trading. Mr. Fields was one of the supporters of Harry Blossfeld´s South America expedition and got the plants as reward for the support.

Despite the fact that Rosei 1 and Rosei 2 are actually clones, you can find very similar specimens in nature. In particular, we see a striking resemblance to the forms of Trichocereus peruvianus from Matucana (e.g. the Icaro DNA strain, Sharxx Blue etc).  However, there are also similar plants in other parts of Peru and we probably won’t be able to find out where exactly they came from. In the future, I will have a look at old cactus catalogs to see if there might be some old seed lists that include the collection sites. The only information that is certain is that both clones are from South America, but that´s a pretty big area.

Rosei 1 has shorter spines than Rosei 2 and usually has a more glaucous/blue epidermis. But because the environment can have a huge influence on the look of a plant, I doubt that this works reliably.

This is a Hybrid between Rosei 1 x Open

Another plant from a ROSEI 1 x OPEN cross

Rosei 1 x Pachanoi

KK336 Trichocereus Glaucus

I am totally not sure if Knize´s Trichocereus Glaucus is actually the same plant that Friedrich Ritter described as Trichocereus Glaucus. Here is what I have about Knize´s KK336. He sold the plant for a very long time and collected them at various sites. The first one was sold through Knize 1999 seed list and is supposedly from Rio Tambo at around 1500 meters. The plants look totally different to what Ritter described so I am not sure how Knize got the idea that KK336 is actually a Glaucus. I assume it was only based on the glaucous epidermis, which is really very blue. He also sold it through the 2004 seed list using the remark “Rio Tambo, Arequipa, Peru”.

I am sure that there are many of those KK336 on the open market but most of them are probably labeled as Trichocereus Peruvianus, Macrogonus or simply San Pedro. All plants that I ever came across with the label Trichocereus Glaucus were more or less glaucous Perus.

The KK336 is definitely one of the coolest San Pedros that I´ve ever seen and it reminds me a lot of the dark blue Peruvianus from Matucana.

Where to buy seeds or plants of KK336: There sometimes are some american shops that sell this type on ebay. It´s been a while since I last saw one but they are definitely out there. Either as Trichocereus Glaucus, Macrogonus or Peruvianus. Knize also sold it as seed and live cuttings but I wrote about the shipping problems with him before.