Trichocereus scopulicola was described by Friedrich Ritter. The combination Echinopsis scopulicola (F.Ritter) Mottram was first published in Cactaceae Consensus Initiatives 2: 9 (1997).
Trichocereus scopulicola was described by Friedrich Ritter. The combination Echinopsis scopulicola (F.Ritter) Mottram was first published in Cactaceae Consensus Initiatives 2: 9 (1997). [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1001124-1]
In Plants of the World Online (Kew), both Echinopsis scopulicola (F.Ritter) Mottram and Trichocereus scopulicola F.Ritter are treated as heterotypic synonyms of the accepted species Echinopsis lageniformis. The name is therefore NOT accepted at species rank by POWO. [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1001124-1; https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:132706-1]
The synonymy of scopulicola under E. lageniformis is followed by Hunt (2016) and the CITES Cactaceae Checklist, while Govaerts (2001) had earlier accepted it as a valid species under an alternative treatment, showing the placement is not universally agreed upon. [https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:1001124-1]
Growing & propagation
T. scopulicola is said to be among the hardiest of the potent mescaline-containing species, with suggested protection below 22 degrees F (exact minimum temperature unknown to the author). [Trout's Notes on the Cultivation & Propagation of Cacti]
Scopulicola is used as a parent in horticultural hybridizing; a documented named cultivar is 'Super Pedro', a scopulicola-derived hybrid associated with Cactus Country (catalog reference LHB2444). [https://trichocereus.net/trichocereus-scopulicola-echinopsis-scopulicola/]
History
The taxon was discovered by Friedrich Ritter during a 1959 expedition to Bolivia and given the field collection number FR991. [https://trichopedia.org/about/scop/; https://trichocereus.net/trichocereus-scopulicola-echinopsis-scopulicola/]
Ritter distributed scopulicola seed widely through his Winter (Winter Seed) seed lists, which is how the plant became established in cultivation worldwide despite being rare in the wild. [https://trichopedia.org/about/scop/; https://trichocereus.net/trichocereus-scopulicola-echinopsis-scopulicola/]
Clone genealogy
Trichocereus scopulicola material was grown by NMCR from FR991 seed, which was acquired from Rivière De Caralt. [WVC 2011 San Pedro talk; Ogunbodede et al. 2010, Journal of Ethnopharmacology 131(2):356-362]
