RITTER 1966 (English “translation”)
Friedrich Ritter
1966 Cactus (Paris). Organe de l'Association Française des
Amateurs de Cactus et Plantes Grasses. Paris. 21(87): 14-15. “Trichocereus
scopulicola Ritter spec.
nov.”
(AKA “Cactus Paris”)
Trichocereus
scopulicola Ritter spec. nov.
[Page 14
Erect stems.
Columns are budding only
weakly, or not of the all, from the base, 3-4 m tall, 8-10 cm thick, dark green
in color.
Ribs: 4-6, generally 5, almost lacking tubercles, wide and blunted
to flanks a little bombés, to a thickness of about 3-4 cm.
[??] [Problematic passage. “larges
et émoussées à flancs un peu bombés” Thusfar we unable to locate “bombés”
in the available dictionaries]
The furrows that separate
the ribs are rectilinear [i.e. straight & even].
[Page 15]
Areoles: slightly sunken, with a little white wool. They are
circular or oval, 1-3 mm long, 1 mm wide, and separated by from 1.5 to almost 3
cm;
The circular flowering areoles have a diameter of about 4-5 mm.
Spines: lacking in the case
of large plants or can number from 3-5, brown in color, [awl-shaped and only
around 1 mm long] (?)
[Unclear passage: “seulement
de 1 mm environ subulés”. www.freetranslation.com gave as “only of 1 mm
about subulés”]
Seedlings: Have 6-7 ribs, whitish or brown areoles are 1-1.5 mm in
diameter, separated by 3-5 mm, with 7-13 needle-shaped whitish or brown spines,
2-5 mm of long; 1-2 of these are placed as central spines.
Flowers: Generally borne in
the neighborhood of the apex and sometimes also lower, 16-20 cm long, fragrant,
opening at night and remaining again into the cool hours of morning.
Ovary: Green, with large
podaria around 1 cm in diameter, upwards running out into greenish scales and
pointed bracts 1-2 mm of length with white woolly hairs; upwards there is also
black hairs.
Nectar chamber:
White-brownish, tube-shaped, surrounding the style very closely, about 2 cm
long, with nectar.
Floral tube: (above the
nectar chamber): Has the form of a funnel, 6.5-8.5 cm long and around a 3 cm
width on the upper part; bright green in color inside and outside.
The green scales increase
in size while passing from the bottom upwards, to around 2.5 cm long and 1.5 cm
wide. The transition regions situated between the tube and the floral
envelopes, are reddish-brown.
[Unclear passage: “Les
régions de transition situées entre le tube et les folioles du périanthe”
(freetranslation.com gave as “The transition regions situated between the
tube and the folioles of the périanthe”)
Very curly black and white
hairs and wool are present.
Stamens: pale Green towards
the bottom and yellowish upwardly, 7-9 cm long, (those of the hymen are 4-5
cm), inserted on a distance of around 4 cm.
Anthers: Brownish.
Style: pale Green, 14-18 cm
long, taking into account 2 cm that corresponds to the length of the 12 lobes
of the pale yellow and spreading stigma.
Perianth sgements: 6-8 cm
long, 2.5-4 cm long with a narrow base. The rounded terminal portions may have
or lack small points.
The petals are white and wider at the top.
The sepals are not as wide, they are white with a green midstripe.
Fruit: Green, 4-5 cm long
and wide; the zoned surface is analogous to that of the ovary. It has a savory
taste.
Seed: 1.75 mm long, 0.75 mm
thick, 1.25 mm wide. In the shape of a kidney, glossy, black surface, lightly
tubercled. Base is very inclined. Hilium is oval and brownish.
Systematic position: Closely
related to the type of Trichocereus bridgesii (SD) BRITTON
& ROSE and closer to Trichocereus crassicostatus
RITTER spec. nov.
Habitat: Slopes and rocky
hills of the mountainous virgin forests of southern Bolivia.
Holotype: Collected in the vicinity of Tapecua, O'Connor province,
Bolivia, and deposited in the herbarium of Ultrecht University.
This species was found to
exist by F. Ritter in May 1959
and was catalogued under the collection number FR 991.
(to be continued) [Last note referred to Ritter’s piece on new Trichs not T. scopulicola]