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wanderingmarlin


Registered: 04/30/11
Posts: 159
Loc: Zone 10a, 33 N lat, CA US...
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Bridesii Taxonomy/Segmented T. pachanoi
#14378544 - 04/30/11 04:32 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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Another great day at the nursery, found an Astrophytum asterias about to flower and a pot with two 18 inch pachanoi and a 12 inch bridgesii(-oid, but more on that later). The pachanoi both exhibit something a see a lot in landscape specimens in this area, this being a DEEP "pinch" in the stem, causing the plant to look like a long string of sausage links.


Does anybody know what causes this? Based on the young branch (see photo), I can only assume that, for some reason, an areole right at the apical meristem decides to put out a branch while the current branch stops growing. I've seen ~20 foot tall clusters with this trait, so I don't think it affects stability too much, but granted the cluster I'm referring to had branches nearly as thick as my thigh. Given the relatively small (2.5inch) diameter of these two new pachs, should i be worried about their stability? I bought them primarily for use as grafting stock, could this "sausage link" trait transfer to the scion? (as far as I understand, things like monstrose growth don't usually transfer to the scion.. right?) Worst case scenario would be I have 2 beautiful plants unsuitable for grafting, but no less valued in my garden.
Now, on to this bridgesii. The spines are highly bridesoid near the apical meristem, but very small and pachanoid near the base. With the exception of those small spines, I would definitely call it a bridesii. Now I have never seen a young seed-grown TB before (my current specimen is from a cutting) so I'm not sure how old they have to be before the classic big and crazy spines appear. I do have a 3 inch tall T. tulhuayacensis KK337 x T. bridesii hybrid from S.S. (but we all know how unreliable Knize was) and it has large spines right down to the base. If this spination pattern comes from the bridesii or "337", I do not know. All this leads me to wonder if this is plant is a "true" bridesii, a T. peruvianus, or something else very similar. Given how confusing trichocereus taxonomy is, I really don't expect to find out the nature of this plant until it gets a bit older, but if someone has seen anything like this I'd love to hear about it.
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karode13
Tāne Mahuta



Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,290
Loc: LV-426
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Re: Bridesii Taxonomy/Segmented T. pachanoi [Re: wanderingmarlin]
#14379310 - 04/30/11 08:07 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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I'm pretty sure your segmented pachanoi is the very cool "Sausage plant" that pops up from time to time on Ethno boards. Probably better to get another grafting stock as that is a cool addition to the collection and would be a shame to use for grafting.
Not sure what causes it and you aren't certain if it's a stable trait yet. I would grow it for a couple of seasons and see what the outcome is.
Your bridgesii is a fairly typical one IMO, beautiful blue epidermis and honey/amber coloured spines. Looks to be grown in shade too based on the glaucus epidermis which does effect the length of spines IME, bright light equals big spines. The lower, longer central spines could also of been knocked off when it was handled. Not really sure but it's definitely a bridgesii.
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naum



Registered: 10/09/07
Posts: 4,069
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Re: Bridesii Taxonomy/Segmented T. pachanoi [Re: karode13]
#14380062 - 04/30/11 10:53 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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I don't think it's the sausage plant especially given the location. I've asked several people who have a lot of obscure Australian clones in their collection in the US if the sausage has made it over here and the answer has always been no. Furthermore, the spine arrangement and rib shape doesn't match the AUS sausage clone. Doesn't look nearly glaucus enough either, but that's could be due to environmental factors.
Edit: And the sausage plant doesn't pup from a furrow like picture shows but rather from the tip.
I've seen this happen in wholesale nurseries where insect control was not strict in the house that house the Trichocereus. Some sort of insect eats just enough of the trips without damaging too much of the apical meristem inducing growth like that. One nursery had such a prevalent problem that I could show you PC Pachanoi, Ecuadorian-type pachanoi, macrogonus, and bridgesii with similar "sausage" like growth.
The other possibility of course is that your clone shares the same or a similar gene for the terminal weirdness phenotype of the sausage plant. I think insect damage is a bit more likely. Time will tell.
Regarding the bridgesii, looks fairly typical to me as well, but the older growth on some bridgesii is well-known to be nearly spineless.
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Edited by naum (04/30/11 10:59 PM)
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karode13
Tāne Mahuta



Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,290
Loc: LV-426
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Re: Bridesii Taxonomy/Segmented T. pachanoi [Re: naum]
#14380402 - 04/30/11 11:55 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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True indeed naum. Your theory about insect damage is spot on and that's why I suggested to grow it out to see what the outcome is. Thanks for your thoughts.
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wanderingmarlin


Registered: 04/30/11
Posts: 159
Loc: Zone 10a, 33 N lat, CA US...
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Re: Bridesii Taxonomy/Segmented T. pachanoi [Re: karode13]
#14388766 - 05/02/11 01:56 PM (12 years, 8 months ago) |
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An interesting experiment would be to treat one plant with a systemic insecticide while leaving one untreated and see if the sausage growth stops in the treated plant. Hmmm I sense science in the near future!
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