The name Domeyko has
intrigued me each time that I see it on maps during trip planning or
reviews and as I see the signs to the village as we speed past in on
our way north or south. This intrigue is probably caused by the name
Copiapoa domeykoensis on a label of one of the Copiapoa
coquimbana in my collection - not a very dynamic or attractive
plant, but a Copiapoa none the less.
In 2001, at the start of our trip, we had
actually stopped in the village to buy some bananas. We were still
naive enough to believe that we'd find plants of C. domeykoensis
near the name plate where the track entered the village. Since then I
have learned how widespread the name Domeyko is. In addition to this
village (population 936 according to recent statistics) there is also
the Cordillera de Domeyko that could be described as the Chilean
foothills to the Andes in Northern Chile.
A close look at the map near Domeyko also draws
attention to another Chilean (or rather South American?) feature, that
of the same geographical names cropping up time and time again, so
confusing to those relying on type locality information to assist in
determining the true identity of a plant.
When driving north past Domeyko, it is usually
the lure of other, better known and arguably more dynamic Copiapoa
locations laying in wait, that prevents a longer stay in the area. But
on the return leg south, there is often a couple of hours spare time
and this otherwise boring stretch of Ruta 5 sets the mind to thinking
of ways to fill this time. In 2003, it was a photo stop to take
pictures of peppers or tomatoes lying in the sun to dry, followed by a
brief exploratory trip to the west, turning off Ruta 5 at Trapiche
(S202), along the Quebrada do los Choros where we found some wonderful
C. coquimbana (S203).
This time I had looked at the Ritter's original
description for C. domeykoensis, or rather his C.
pseudocoquimbana var. domeykoensis and had learned that this grows
18 km south west of Domeyko. Ritter preferred his epithet
pseudocoquimbana to the rather brief and much older description
(1886) for Echinocactus coquimbana and so opened up another
chapter of Copiapoa intrigue (a.k.a. 'another can of worms') that is
worthy of a full chapter in a book on Copiapoa (Rudolf, please note!)
rather than a few lines here. Ritter quotes FR 1091 as the type and
Englera 16 - the bible for Ritter Freaks - indicates that the plant
was collected from 4 locations, 18 km south west-, 16.5 km west-, 20
km west- and 18 km west of Domeyko respectively, all sold and
presented as FR 1091!
And so we turned west at Domeyko, and followed
Ritter's trail, driving along the Quebrada Chaņaral (giving rise to
Ritter's C. pseudocoquimbana var chaniarensis) and Quebrada
Carrizalillo (depending on which map you use) to Carrizalillo, a
village situated on the plain that lies at the mouth of this Quebrada)
and stopped at km 16.5 (S314)
and again at km 29.2 (S315)
and took pictures of the Copiapoa growing alongside the track, the
most likely ancestors of C. pseudocoquimbana var. domeykoensis
or perhaps the very plants on which his description was based.
As the valley widens out into a broad plain, we
took numerous pictures of the Desierto Florido and of the round-up of
donkeys by local farmers on horseback - the nearest that I'll get to
witnessing the sort of North American wild west scenes that first
attracted me to the plants that appeared as unpaid extras in the cast
of 'Cowboy
films'.
We made two more cactus stops (S316
and S317)
on the track from Carrizalillo to Caleta Chaņaral, where we found the
most attractive individual Eulychnia that I'd ever seen, as
well as lots more C. pseudocoquimbana - probably accounting for
all the Ritter varieties at his splitting peak. At
S317
there were several large clumps displaying enough body and spine
variability to account for all of them! Some even reminded me of C.
echinoides, but that's another story.
Time passes too quickly when you are enjoying
yourself and I realised that the track from Carrizalillo to Trapiche
was easier to find on the map than in real life, so that returning the
way we had come would be a longer drive, but a better, safer option.
It had the added benefit of passing the 'donkey
derby' again, know in full flow and a real bonus for future talks, as
it will add some variety to the hundreds of pictures of Copiapoa
:-)
The last stop of the day was
along Ruta 5, just past Los Hornos (S318)
- the stop that I use to gauge seasonal / climatic trends, comparing
scenery from the start and end of each trip. My conclusion was that
flowering had peaked. No doubt Graham Charles, doing this trips a few
weeks behind us, will tell me different. No doubt we'll have to get
together and compare pictures over a few bottles of wine. It's a hard
life!
We stayed the night in
Guanaqueros.
