Trichocereus Valida

[Evil Genius]

Nice pics, Tripsis. Plant on the last pic has areoles like Echinopsis Forbesii. What is regarded as synonymous with Trichocereus Validus. Which is closely related to Trichocereus Terscheckii. You know, all the large Columnar species from the Andes are a mess on a taxonomical level. Personally, i stopped differentiating between them. I keep the label if a plant is called this or that to keep track but thats it. Yes there are differences but in most cases they arent bigger than the ones between the countless Terscheckii Varieties i´ve seen in the past. Terscheckii, Pascana, Validus and Werdermannianus are so closely related that its only possible to tell some of them apart through intense DNA testing which is already in progress. My cactus breedings made me rethink the way i see the whole cactus ID Thing. You know, i really like Charles Darwins way of seeing the development of diffrent species. Just think about five identical plants that start growing in diffrent regions because somehow the seed ended up there, germinated and grew into nice mature plants. Though they may be hundreds of kilometers apart, they are still all coming from the same plant. And whenever a plant reaches maturity, it tries to procreate and hybridises with the other cacti that natural occur within its reach. In many cases, the resulting plants differentiate slighty (or even greatly) from their original parents but they are still very closely related. Its very hard to fit these differences between related plants into a taxonomic system. I stopped ID´ing San Pedro´s that i consider hybrids because in most cases, its nearly impossible to ID them correctly. Sure, you can see traits of bridgesii, Pachanoi, Pervianus, Scop etc. but thats it. There is no certainty with ID´ing some of these plants and thats why it feels so pointless to me. Just like the TV Shows about Closed Case Murders that tell all about the homicide that took place but dont reveal the killer in the end. Its a waste of time. Also you just cant compare a one meter small young-aged cactus to a tree-like adult. They will always look diffrent no matter if your right or wrong with your assumption. No matter how you wanna call the Trichocereus Validus, its a great plant and i think its great its finally around. Pollen is in the right hands so i am very very confident we´ll see some hybrids in a few years that might show how variable they can be. bye Eg

Edited December 21, 2011 by Evil Genius

[bit]

I agree with you to an extend EG. But along with the grey areas, I'd like to think that there exists for those species named by taxonomists a distinctive plant that we can all say 'yes that's species X' and when something's very similar it's also species X, however when something differs or only very loosly resembles, it's safe to say it's intermediary.

[tripsis]

Terscheckii, Pascana, Validus and Werdermannianus are so closely related that its only possible to tell some of them apart through intense DNA testing which is already in progress.

The first three I agree must be closely related, but T. werdermannianus is quite distinct from the others in my eyes. None of the others have the same stout spines that T. werdermannianus et al. have.

Here's another one from Cactus Country, which falls into the T. werdermannianus/T. tacaquirensis clade (perhaps T. taquimbalensis?).

[Evil Genius]

Hi Bit, yes i agree as well. But i dont think that its likely that there will be many secured Identifications within this Group of Columnar growing Trichs in the Andes. It turned out to be very difficult, even for specialists like Ritter and Backeberg who walked the habitats over decades. Problems start already with what people would call intermediate, species and variety. Im just happy im not the one who needs to sort this complex out.

[bit]

The first three I agree must be closely related, but T. werdermannianus is quite distinct from the others in my eyes. None of the others have the same stout spines that T. werdermannianus et al. have.

Here's another one from Cactus Country, which falls into the T. werdermannianus/T. tacaquirensis clade (perhaps T. taquimbalensis?).

 

Definitive test for taquimalensis/tacaquirensis - wet the spines and they should turn red :D

[CβL]

Definitive test for taquimalensis/tacaquirensis - wet the spines and they should turn red :D

My "werd" does that. :/

[Bretloth]

So does my "pasacana".

[Bretloth]

Ok, just got back from Fields. Both Valida out there are different clones from the same seed batch, from Ritter, through his sister who was the original Mr Fields pen pal. There, hopefully that keeps everyone happy.

[Chef]

That is one violent looking cactus!

[PD.]

There, hopefully that keeps everyone happy

Ha, thats the impossible task B

Still planning on headn over bro, few dramas to iron out first but ill let ya know.

[Bretloth]

No worries mate, give us a buzz when you know. Got another Valida flower coming through in the next week or two ;)

[Evil Genius]

Im still pretty happy about having such great pics including flowering shots of the Plant that Ritter sold as Validus because i didnt expect that there still people around who remember about the origin of their cactus. You know, in the past years i´ve seen quite a few Validus around but almost none of them had any additional info about the seed and where it came from. Nicely done.

[Bretloth]

Got the pictured plant from Fields, tentitively id'ed as Tacaquirensis, Robert thinks from Ritter. He's not sure on the id or the source, he said he would have to check his records to be sure, so please don't hassle me over it because i'm not that fussed. I don't know anymore than what I'm saying. If it helps, great. If not, oh well.

[☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ]

AMG field's validus is so sexy i creamed over this thread : p

[mushroomman]

Lol, fields validus is my favorite in my collection . Just got to get there other clone now

And my sacred succulents validus?

[hostilis]

I always hear about field's pachanoi and field's validus, but I don't know what field's is. Is it a nursery?

[mushroomman]

Check out this link http://trichoseriousethnobotany.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/fields-cactus-farm.html?m=1

[mushroomman]

Also this one http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16641&view=&hl=&fromsearch=1

[☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ]

rawrz , Ive been gettn hot n sweaty frm bretloth's site for years... even longer than this site!

any decent googler will find that site very quickly if they hunt validus well enough

even faster if they select images

Edited April 27, 2014 by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

[☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ]

*JUMP FOR JOY*

I may have found a T' validus supply direct from bolivia

if all goes well I'll be sure to share my findings

[mushroomman]

Awesome! Seed or cuttings?

[☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ]

seeds with location data

can cuttings be shipped worldwide from bolivia?

would this impact on our very fave cactus?

-for natures sake

i hope they arent selling cuttings unsustainably, ......

Edited April 29, 2014 by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

[mushroomman]

All depends on the country they are being shipped to

I'd be really keen to put in for some seed what quantities can you get?

[Evil Genius]

Seeds are certainly no problem. Plants need Documentation (Phytocertificate) or you might get in Trouble. Pretty sure a package from Bolivia will raise some interest in your local Customs Office! Some legandary SAB´ler once sent me some cuttings from Australia and they landed at customs. Had to pay something like 150 Bucks or so as a fine but got my Plants afterwards. Wouldn´t recommend doing it on a regular basis though. Fines can be expensive if you do that all the time.

[Evil Genius]

And please ask for pictures. Trichocereus Validus is a very difficult Plant and field collectors usually get it wrong. All Validus i ever got were actually ID´d as something else.