Trichocereus camarguensis, also known as Echinopsis camarguensis, is a Bolivian cactus from Camargo.

Synonyms of T. camarguensis:

Echinopsis camarguensis, Trichocereus caulescens, Echinopsis caulenscens

Trichocereus camarguensis is a thin Cactus that resembles Trichocereus strigosus, huascha and some forms of T. spachianus. It has golden Spines. Live cuttings and seeds of Trichocereus camarguensis were distributed by various sources, including Karel Knize under the collection Number KK1414. There also are many hybrids available. Trichocereus cajasensis is closely related and is considered to be a separate species by some authors. DNA testing is necessary to look into this.

Description of Trichocereus camarguensis:

Thin columnar cactus that can get up to 50-60 centimeters tall. It grows prostrate and usually leans forward because of its tendency to creep. The epidermis is bright to pale green with many golden spines. 13-15 ribs and areoles are around 1 centimeter apart of each other. This cactus can resemble Trichocereus huascha and Trichocereus strigosus, but does not reach its large height!

Spines:

12-15 radial spines and 1-3 middle spines that are up to 5 centimeters long, The spines are bright yellow and like very thin, fine needles.

Flower:

White. Up to 22 centimeters long, tube with dark gray hairs, sepals are pink/purple/green and white petals (up to 10 centimeters)

Fruit of Echinopsis camarguensis:

Round fruit, up to 3 centimeters in diameter

Origin:

Bolivia, near Camargo, 2750 meters. Chuqisaca, Tarija, Potosi

Trichocereus camarguensis is a night-flowering species. It also is self-sterile, what means you need pollen from a second plant to get seeds.

Cultivation of T. camarguensis:

Trichocereus camarguensis is USDA 10-12. It originally comes from Bolivia, where there is very little water and should not be overwatered. They are much more likely to rot than a Trichocereus pachanoi or Trichocereus peruvianus. So keep them more on the dry side and don’t water when it’s cold or rainy because that attracts mold and other infections. They like a mineral substrate and can deal with quite a lot of sun. The minimum average temperature should not go below 10° Celsius and that´s actually the temperature that you should overwinter them. Only water them between May and October if you have to bring them inside to overwinter. If you don´t have the luck to live in a country where you can grow them outside,then better not try it because they will most likely not make it through the winter! Just make sure to provide them with a winter protection that keeps em from getting wet all the time. They should take short, nightly frosts, but the absolute minimum is -9° Celsius/15.8 Fahrenheit. Frost resistance also depends on many other factors, like general health, soil composition and humidity.

Growing Trichocereus carmaguensis from seed:

The same requirements as most other Bolivian Trichocereus species. Seeds need light to germinate and seedlings prefer mineral substrate. Sprinkle the seeds on top of the soil and put the pot/container in a warm room (25°-29°) and make sure it´s not getting too hot in there. As soon as all the seeds have germinated, keep a close eye on the temperatures because they can die from heat quite easily. Temps should not go above 30° Celsius! Especially in closed containers, temps can be substantially higher than in the room around them.

Where to get seed:

There are not many seed sources for Trichocereus camarguensis available right now. I have received some top notch seeds from the current harvest by a friend this year. Check out the shop to buy some Trichocereus camarguensis seeds.

Hybrid Culture:

Trichocereus camarguensis is used extensively in hybrid culture because they flower early on and produce a beautiful flower. Because of that there are many camarguensis hybrids with a flower other than white.

Similarity to Trichocereus strigonus

Trichocereus camarguensis and Trichocereus strigonus are extremely similar. The difference is that Trichocereus camarguensis only has yellow spines, while T. strigonus has yellow and red colored forms. In addition, T. strigonus has much more spines and is a bit taller.

Photo: Trichocereus camarguensis (Dean Karras)

Teguise_Guatiza_-_Jardin_-_Echinopsis_camarguensis_01_ies

by Frank Vincentz

by daderot Echinopsis_camarguensis_-_Brooklyn_Botanic_Garden_-_Brooklyn,_NY_-_DSC08064

This photo is labeled as Trichocereus camarguensis, but probably shows Trichocereus strigonus. Trichocereus camarguensis does not have red spines. by Daderot

trichocereus camarguensis huntington echinopsis

Trichocereus camarguensis / Echinopsis camarguensis

Huntington Botanical Garden by Richard Hipp

Trichocereus camarguensis KK1414

Trichocereus strigosus is a plant from the genus Trichocereus. Its status is questionable and it is sometimes also listed as Soehrensia strigosa. I treat it as a correct species in the genus Trichocereus. It is closely related to Trichocereus vatteri and only differs from it by the flowers. Visually, both species are very hard to differentiate and are mostly synonymous.

Synonyms: Cereus strigosus, Echinopsis strigonus, Cereus myriophyllus, Trichocereus strigonus,

This plant grows in direct neighborhood of Trichocereus candicans and was cataloged by Gilles in 1833. But back then, the plant was not described until 1834 when Salm-Dyck took the effort to write a complete description. Trichocereus strigosus and Trichocereus candicans both grow around Mendoza. The original name was Cereus Myriophyllus (Gilles) but it was changed to Trichocereus strigosus because it was based on a nomen nudum and that´s why Salm-Dyck´s description has priority over the older name Cereus Myriophyllus.

Flower: Up to 20 centimeters large, white. Trichocereus strigosus is a night flowering species. It also is self-sterile, what means that you need pollen from another donor to produce seeds. Please not that there is a white form of Trichocereus strigosus. The white flowering variety of this plant grows at around 1600 meters altitude. The plant is pupping from the base and only reaches around 60-65 centimeters in height.

Ribs: Trichocereus strigosus has 15-20 ribs and the shoots have a maximum diameter of 5-8 centimeters.

The areoles are white/beige felted and reach a maximum diameter of 5 mm. Every areole are approximately 3-6 mm apart from each other.

Spines: Yellow, very thin and fine spines, up to 3 centimeters long, 10-15 radial spines and 2-5 middle spines that can get up to 5,5 centimeters long. The plant has very long and fierce spines.

In addition, there are some other forms/varieties. One of them was originally known as Trichocereus strigosus var. flaviflorus and only occurs in Famatina, Province La Rioja in Argentina. This type has a yellow flower and is day flowering. The flowers are between 12-14 centimeters large. The yellow flowering variety grows a couple hundred meters below the white flowering one. In addition, the yellow flower is shorter.

Cultivation: The species is very rare in cultivation, though it sometimes shows up in cactus collections all around the world. The plant should be kept relatively dry, though it can be watered in the summer when it´s pretty hot. As it grows in the neighborhood of Trichocereus candicans, it requires similar conditions. Trichocereus strigosus likes getting a fair amount of sun light but shouldn´t be baked in full sun all day long. They usually grow in semi-shade and can form amazing clusters.

Winter protection and frost tolerance: Trichocereus strigosus is able to take a light amount of frost but everything lower than -5° Celsius is dangerous and can lead to permanent damage or death. Plants need to be kept completely dry if the temperatures drop below 10° Celsius/50° Fahrenheit and it´s best to keep them in a bright, well ventilated area. The minimum average temperature is 10° Celsius.

Seed germination: The seed germinates very easy, if it´s actually fresh. Especially with those rarer Trichos, there are problems regarding the viability of the seeds. I think Succeed has them in stock too and if possible, ask the seller in advance if he knows how old the seed is. That´s a good rule of thumb anyway and these days, I do it for all my seed orders.