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On pages 141-142 14. Trichocereus fascicularis (Meyen).
Growing in large clusters made up of many slender, erect or ascending branches, 2 to 4 meters high; ribs about 16, low, rounded, separated by narrow intervals; areoles filled with tawny felt, closely set, large; spines numerous, at first yellowish to brown; radial spines acicular, often only 1 cm. long or less; central spines much stouter and often 4 cm. long; flowers 1 from an areole, 8 to 11 cm. long, slender, somewhat curved near the base; ovary and flower-tube bearing small ovate scales, their axils filled with long white and brown hairs; outer perianth-segments narrow, acute, passing into broader ones, simply mucronate, pinkish; inner perianth-segments thinner and a little broader than the outer ones, obtuse, 1.5 cm. long, greenish to brownish (not white) ; filaments numerous, slender, scattered over the narrow throat, somewhat exserted; style bulbose at base, slender, 7 cm. long, exserted; stigma-lobes short, greenish; lower part of tube proper 1.5 cm. long, somewhat scabrous within; fruit globular, 3 to 4 cm. in diameter, yellowish to reddish, splitting open on one side and exposing the pulp; seeds black, shining, 2 mm. long, a little longer than broad, minutely punctate. Type locality: Southern Peru. Distribution: Mountains of southern Peru and northern Chile, at about 2,300 meters altitude. At Arequipa it is especially common, being found both above and below the city, where it was collected by Dr. Rose in 1914 (No. 18781). This species, although recently described as new under the name of Cereus weberbaueri, is the one described by Meyen in 1833 as Cereus fascicularis. Meyen's description is very unsatisfactory, but he does describe the habit, numher of ribs, and size of flowers, all of which answer fairly well to our plant. A translation of his brief description is as follows: Erect, 16-angled, 4 feet high, somewhat jointed (3 to 4 joints) ; spines 8 or 9, in a radiating circle; flowers 9 or 10, white, 3.5 inches long, at the ends of the branches. Page 141 includes: fig 205:
fig 206 & 207
page 142 The flowers of this species differ from those of typical Trichocereus in that they are very slender, bent near the base, and have short perianth-segments. Figure 205 is from a photograph taken by Dr. Rose at Arequipa, Peru, in 1914; figure 206 shows the flower and figure 207 the fruit of the plant photographed. |
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