(Translated by H,Middleditch from Dodonaeus Vi, 1, 1968)

The name of Huasco is familiar to all those who are interested in ‘Chileans’. That is why, in planning and arranging for this journey, I had already proposed to devote a portion of my time to it. Leaving La Serena, main town of the province I set out resolutely on my first expedition to the north,

Having decided to go by train to Vallenar, I started by trying to obtain a train timetable ... but this does not exist. In the absence of a timetable I go to the station where one expects an information service ... but nothing there either, The ‘employee’ is content to assure me that there will be a train in that direction but he does not known when.

The Chilean railways have nothing in common with those we rely upon because they are a century behind the times; they are a narrow gauge track and have no idea of timetables.

The travellers who make use of the train are in general the poor people who travel around with all their offspring and who take the carriages by storm. Misfortune to the lonely stranger who had the absurd idea of wishing to travel alone and in the same train, craftily pushing steadily in the hope of reaching a seat with clothing intact.

If you are not put off by shabby thoughts of this sort the journey is the more interesting because the railroad crosses an impressive countryside of escarpments and of rocky and confused valleys where one only discovers majestic white columns. This is truly South America.

Vallenar is a small town lying 180 Km. to the north of La Serena: in addition it is the first and only settlement worthy of the name. At first one crosses the more populated territories of the province of Coquimbo then one climbs more and more gradually to reach the altitude of 1,800 to 2000m, above sea level. Slowly travelling onward, the train stops repeatedly - one does not know exactly why, unless it is to enable other travellers to cram together on the last spaces still vacant. The temperature is troublesome and reaches 32^oC in an atmosphere becoming more and more rarefied.

At last, in and amongst discomfort, we approach the desert which still separates us from the small town - then everyone dashes to the windows to look at Vallenar, first town since our departure - throughout the journey we have only seen some rare groups of poor habitations in the hilly country. The north of Chile is a country where one may travel for 1,000 Km. without meeting with a single human being.

On numerous occasions I am asked “Are you travelling alone?” But certainly - and without a car! From time to time I hire a horse or a donkey and I trust myself to the mountain guides who are familiar with the region because it is here where one cannot live if one does not know the water holes, that water acquires the true value of gold.

I have travelled the country a little in all directions and know well when I should expect to reach a village, but I may only find empty and abandoned houses. Having the misfortune to abandon their lands and their goods because the water had failed abruptly the little community had left to re-establish itself at the source of another spring - but for how long? Added to that the active volcanic character of the region and you can imagine something of the precarious existence and the all too familiar misfortunes of the poor of Chile.

Water is not much of a problem at Vallenar because there is ample quite close in the full length of the River Huasco. A European would have little difficulty in envisaging the attraction of these lands for cacti. The Rio Huasco glides towards the sea by a very easy passage in the deep valley which crosses a region of contrasts; far above, towards the mountain peaks, all is bare, confused and desolate but all around the floor of the valley one finds some trees, some bushes - somewhat sickly - and at the same time a few grasses.

At the edge of the sea, it reaches the little port of Huasco where, in spite of the proximity of the ocean, the humidity of the atmosphere remains rather low, The vegetation of the surroundings is divisible into two zones:- First zone - arid desert of sandy and chalky subsoil (pH 7.3 to 7.4). The ground is relatively flat or slightly undulating and pierced here and there by the rocky outcrops from 5 to 7 m. high. The ground has a yellowish colouring and the rocks, which project out of the ground, are brownish.

One finds on the right bank of the Huasco, Neoporteria villosa and N, atrispinosa, while on the left bank is N. thiebautiana. Further off, were seen Copiapoa cupreata Ritter and Horridocactus sp. Kz23. There is only either very little or no other vegetation.

Second zone - this includes that entire region to the north of Huasco as far as Nicolasa and Vallenar, It is comprised of very sweet soil (pH 7.0 to 7.2), very rich in mineral salts and of a yellowish colour to brown. One finds there, more or less scattered, both between the rocks of the escarpments diverse species on the flat ground. Under the bushes and between the tufts of grass, one finds occasional examples of some rare species.

The thousands of huge clumps of C. alticostata give the landscape a very characteristic appearance, C.desertorum Ritter occurs as little groups to the west of Huasco, often in the vicinity of N, napina, of which there are many forms. Horridocactus heinrichianus, rare, only met with under bushes, N.glabrescens: this is no species but a form of N.napina which one finds abundantly at one known site, at the summit of a hillock.

Neochilenia huascensis, Neochilenia sp. Kz25 and Horridocactus giganteus which one finds solitary or in little groups of two or three plants, always close besides stones. Neochilenia crispa, very rare, is found most often at the foot of Eulychnia floresiana which here attains a height of 80 cm.

On the whole, the daytime summer temperature (Nov. to March) is within 24^o and 40^o C while the night temperature varies between 14^o and 22^o C. The winter temperature (June to August is the rainy season) oscillates between 8^o and 20^o C by day and between 4^o and 14^o C by night.

It rains generally three to five times a year: most often twice in June, once or twice in July and once in August, with some exceptions. There are sometimes dews and mists by night but it is very exceptional. According to the statistics, there are in this region from 310 to 340 sunny days in the year.

I have also taken the opportunity to establish that, during the month of May, there will be a heavy mist every other day which persists until 10 or 11 o’clock in the morning and which provides addition to the humidity of the air, This allows the plants to capture at least traces of water during the most favourable period of the year.

Species collected by K. Knize between Vallenar & Huasco

It will be evident that I have also found other plants which have in the main been listed under (a) and (b) but there have been so few examples or so few seeds that it seemed to me in­appropriate to publish or to make mention of them.

The map on the front cover of Chileans No.11 includes several place names referred to in the above article.

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The following is the foreword to the current seed catalogue of Peter Thiele (translated by E.W. Bentley):-
What are KZ numbers?

Since October 1968 a young man, Herr K.Knize, has been journeying in South America in order to observe and photograph cacti in their habitat and to collect them. Herr Knize knows the cacti in the European collections and botanic gardens and knows his way about the South American locations, since he had already travelled in various countries in the year 1967. The plants that Herr Knize finds, whether they are now well known or cannot be identified yet on the basis of the literature, all get a KZ field number. Under this number are recorded all important data on the plant in its respective habitat. 

Seeds of these plants, collected under KZ numbers are offered to you in this catalogue with data on habit and origin as far as Herr Knize sends me them. This list represents a collecting time of scarcely 5 months.

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PART 2 (Translated by H.Middleditch from Dodonaeus VI.3, 68).

It is in the province of Coquimbo where one finds some of the best countryside for cacti. Its  main town, La Serena, is also one of the most beautiful old towns in the country. In this district, one can live only in the coastal region where there is the only arable ground. La Serena is a gentle valley which rises gradually for some distance into the interior of the country until reaching the escarpments of some 200 metres in height, where the first cacti are found. All along the coast, nothing is seen, unless it is a fine wide beach. The climate is very agreeable and one may bathe all year round; it only rains during the three winter months - June, July and August - while the temperature oscillates between 12^o and 15^oC.

The warmest time of the year is about January into the beginning of February - 40^oC. All the province is a dry region, very dry indeed; however, the vegetation is relatively abundant - grasses, bushes, enormous colonies of Bromeliads and thousands of Eulychnia.

I moved around most of the time on foot only using a vehicle or a donkey for the longer distances. My first excursion took me to the village of Islon as far as El Romero - on foot - being about 50 Km out and back, which took me a day and a half. During the first 15 Kms, the route was only just practicable and the surroundings completely petrified by the drought; all the veg­etation, cactus and otherwise, was suffering terribly and was covered by a very heavy coat of dust; but on reaching the heights to the left of Islon I discovered, between the rocks, some admirable Neoporteria clavata anchored in the clayish sediment held between the stones. All the Neoporteria of this province have only few roots, somewhat weak and slightly branched and directed towards the west. Further off, in the surroundings of Las Rojas, I discovered the very fine Neoporterias of the group clavata and the variety procera, introduced by F. Ritter. They are found at an altitude of 300 meters where the mountains rise out of a plateau with fairly typical soft and sandy soil, practically without stones and of dark brown colour.

Cheerful but very tired, I was continuing my exploring when I discovered a superb group of Copiapoa coquimbana Kz 146, a Neoporteria procera some 60 cm tall, and another Neochilenia Kz 2 nearly covered with earth and which I believe to be N. jussieui. The places where one finds Neochilenia(s) are limited to some hundreds of meters, sometimes no more than ten meters, and this leads me to suppose that we do not yet know a great deal about the flora of these regions which may hold for us the likelihood of some more agreeable surprises.

Close to Aqua Grande, I found a very nice Neoporteria Kz 55 equipped with powerful spines and at last, close to El Romero, a Copiapoa Kz 46 (macrocarpa n.n. Knize). If one compares this new species with Cop. coquimbana, one may consider it as the taller, the fruits reaching as much as 3.5 cm in length.

On the other bank of the Rio Elqui, close to Algarobito, I harvested seeds of the Neochilenia Kz 61 and close to the Serro Grande a dwarf Neochilenia of which the diameter did not exceed 4 cm and which forms practically no offsets - N. minima Kz 4: 1 came across Neoporteria microsperma there also. Here I cannot forbear to think of my European cactophile friends in contemplating a veritable field full of thousands of C. coquimbana in flower.

I have undoubtedly devoted several long walks to the desert of Coquimbo, some of one day’s journey, but others of as much as ten days; the hilltops there are especially dangerous on account of the extreme heat, of the biting cold (by night?? - H.M.) and the avalanches of stones.

To see some Eriosyce in habitat, I must make good my resolve to carry out a little trip to  Vicuna, at 620 meters altitude, then turn off right to El Planque where one also comes across

Neoporteria senilis nidus. In the vicinity of Elqui, quite close up against the rocky cliffs, where nothing lives except some Eulychnia seared by the wind, I found in the chalky and whitish soil Neochilenia Kz 97 (van Baeli n.n. Knize) one of the finest Neochilenias which I have seen: the epidermis is a whitish-blue and the chestnut-brown spines slightly curved. On the other slope, amongst the grass, hides the very rare Neoporteria gerocephala Kz 96. Both are of a surprising likeness.

Further on, close to El Tampo, I encountered the truly massive Copiapoa wagenknechtii Kz 103 which reached 60 cm in diameter. Pressing forward further onward into the Cordilleras, one finds Eulychnia acida Kz 7, 7 m in height, and one other typical columnar species, Trichocereus chilensis Kz. 106.

At the summit of these arid mountains, round about 2,800 meters. I found at last Neochilenia kunzei Kz 59 with the golden yellow spines. I counted round about 200 in the vicinity of Tilo, at the left of the Rio Elqui, anchored for the most part in the cracks and crevices of the rocks. Outside of these rare examples and of the occasional Eriosyce, one finds nothing else alive in these places. I observed two forms of N. kunzei: the traditional golden yellow form and the other which lived 200 or 300 meters lower - Kz 50 (N. eriosyziodes). The body is rather the shape of a shell, being short cylindrical, up to 60 cm tall, without offsets, having yellow flowers, large, the flower tube having some hairs, or virtually glabrous. It appears to me therefore hardly rational to consider this species as a Neochilenia sensu Backeberg, since he himself considered this character­istic as essential for distinguishing Horridocactus. It might equally well be said that this species could be considered as a Pyrrhocactus sensu Ritter which would be much more justified than for certain other plants referred to this genus in a very debatable fashion, such as: Pyrrhocactus simulans, iquiquensis, Ritter,

I have seen in the neighbourhood of Andacollo a plant called Horridocactus andicolus n.n. Knize which should apparently be N. kunzei, as much as by its habit as by its flowers and fruits, similar in other respects to the Neochilenia Kz 83 of Copiapo.

In my opinion, the other Horridocactus such as H. giganteus, heinrichianus, curvispinus, form a separate group which one could call “the largest cacti” . I shall adhere throughout this account to the names proposed by Backeberg which leads me, for example, to use terms such as Chileorebutia because much remains to be done to determine quite definitely an indisputable nomenclature for classifying all these species.

For example, I have been able to determine the relationship between N. kunzei and N. eriosyziodes - the areas of distribution are of the order of 200 meters apart and the plants encounter­ed at the Huanta Tilo and very rarely as far as Balala.

Plants collected in the mountains of the Cordillera from the region of La Serena.

It will be observed that in the text that Kz 55 is said to emanate from Aqua Grande, whilst in the foregoing list this name is rendered Agere Grande - H.M.

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NEOCHILENIA NAPINA 

In his article describing his collecting trip to Chile, Knize has accompanying photographs of some Neochilenia, all found in the same valley of the Huasco, but with varying lengths of spine. 

One habitat shot shows us a napina with spines so small as to be hardly visible, which Knize quotes as being synonymous with glabresecens. A further habitat shot is of a napina with what are described as ‘normal spines’ — this plant being very similar to that shown on the accom­panying illustration by Rene Zahra of a plant in his collection in Malta.   The third example from habitat is of a napina with spines so long that those on one areole are almost touching those on the next. Knize states that this is the so-called variety spinosior.

It would have been very interesting to have been able to take sample plants of each form of spine growth and cultivate them under similar conditions, to see if they then maintained their different appearance .

The accompanying illustration shows the wool on the flower bud, which surrounds and almost obscures the bud when it is not quite as large as that shown in the illustration. The colour of this wool varies from species to species in the Neochilenia; it is absent from the buds of Neoporteria sensu stricta which are pinky red from first appearance, and is also absent from the buds of Horridocactus, many of which are green when small . This feature can therefore be used as one factor to assist in classifying an unknown plant in the Neoporterianae.

We have several slides in our slide library showing various forms of N. napina

— A.W.C.