The trip by train to
Cuzco via Puno on the shores of Lake Titicaca at 3,810 m altitude
was a unique experience. I won't elaborate here and now. From the
train, we could see large clumps of snow-white
Tephrocactus floccosus. Around Cuzco and Pisac Ritter
was able to collect some Lobivia's while my wife and
I made a trip to Machu
Picchu. Some were Lobivia corbula and
L. pentlandii, while others were species not known to us. Back
together we went to Urcos where we found Lobivia huilcanote,
earlier collected by Rauh. After this magnificent and interesting
trip through the ancient Inca empire, on 19 February we left Arequipa
and headed back to the coast.
The habitat of Islaya divaricatiflora, Pygmaeocereus
bylesianus, Haageocereus chalaensis and of a
Loxanthocereus species was unimaginable.
Pygmaeocereus bylesianus op 900 m
bij Camana, Zuid Peru. foto: Buining
Just as Islaya brevicylindrica
that we were to see later, these plants grew in almost pure gypsum
dust. Our legs were snow-white up to our knees as we arrived back
to the car. We carried on, heading north, partly along the coast
where we found Islaya
copiapoides. We were now in the middle of Islaya
territory. Past Ocoņa (pronounced oconja) at 300 meter we
made camp for the night with a view, between the mountains, of the
brilliant blue Pacific Ocean.
In the morning we climbed
arid mountains to find Islaya glaucescens
and again Haageocereus chalaensis. We stayed on the Pan Americana,
up and down hills, zigzagging from the coast inland and back
again. Near the coast where we found a plant that I had previously
described Loxanthocereus gracilis, here growing with Corryocactus brachypetalus.
Here we also found a form, not described by us, later described,
without justification, as variety nana by Backeberg.
Islaya glaucescens Ritter nom. prov. at 325
m altitude along the coast in southern Peru.
photo: Buining
This plant was related to
material originally received by me from Akers, of which other
plants had also been sent to Mr. Andreae.
Very close to the coast
there were spectacular old specimens of Neoraimondia arequipensis
with its remarkable areoles that protrude like long thick
fingers from the plant's ribs. Farther along, Ritter showed us his Haageocereus subtilispinus.
Along the coast we saw white covered rocky outcrops, encrusted
with the guano, the white deposits left by generations of
brown
pelicans.
Loxanthocereus gracilis (Akers et Buin.) Bckbg.
on hills immediately along the coast in southern Peru, (in background)
and Haageocereus subtilispinus Ritter nom. prov. in the fore
ground.
photo: Buining
Neoraimondia arequipensis (Meyen) Bokbg.
along the coast near Atico, Peru.
photo: Buining
Pygmaeocereus familiaris Ritter nom. prov. on
arid hillsides along the coast in southern Peru. photo: Buining
Neoraimondia arequipensis (Meyen) Bckbg. at
1,900 m altitude, deep in the interior of southern Peru.
photo: Buining
These cliffs were
sometimes so tightly packed with these birds that they seem grey.
It is fascinating to observe these pelicans, out fishing. They may
seem a little plump and heavy, but they glide some 20 m. above the
water surface and then suddenly dive straight down into the water,
wings tightly held against their body. They disappear almost
completely under water and surface almost always with a large fish
in their beaks. They toss the fish into the air and catch and
store it in the large bag-like beak.
Not too far south of Atico,
on very similar cliffs, is a lone population of sea lions, the
only one in this area. We could clearly hear their roars. Here
also grows Islaya grandiflorens. We just managed to reach Chala, where
we found primitive accommodation. This coastal area is still very
dry. Despite this, a bit more inland, we found Armatocereus ghiesbreghtii, Trichocereus chalaensis,
with stems to 10 m. long, hanging from the rocks and, to our
surprise, a few plants of
Loxanthocereus gracilis.
Suddenly Ritter
stopped near a completely barren hill and started searching as if
for a needle in a haystack. My wife, with her sharp vision, was
first to discover Pygmaeocereus familiaris,
which Ritter knew, occurred in this area, growing with many small
heads forming fairly large groups. They are almost completely
covered in fine gravel.
Armatocereus ghiesbreghtii in the south of
Peru, fairly close to the coast. photo: Buining
Islaya paucispina
grow in their thousands on these arid hills and mountains. Islaya paucispinosa
described by Backeberg can easily be split into dozens of
so-called species, if one regards each small difference in this
variable population of I. paucispina as characteristic of a
separate species.
We searched the whole
afternoon, in vain, for Eulychnia ritteri going far inland.
The next morning we crossed through another area and eventually
hit on the habitat of what is doubtless, the most beautiful
species of Eulychnia. We were fortunate to admire its pink
flowers.
The next morning we drove
up a valley that took us to 3,300 meter altitude along
unbelievable narrow tracks, where a number of small shrines and
simple crosses indicated how many people had crashed by car down
the steep slopes. Here we eventually found
Matucana robusta, Tephrocactus alboareolatus, beautiful, deep
yellow spined Weberbauerocereus fascicularis var.
horridus, a very log stemmed and densely spined form of
Haageocereus platinospinus and Tephrocactus multiareolatus.
Lower in the valley, at
around 1,300 meter, close to the place where we spent the night,
we found
Islaya flavida. The next day, we left our encampment, into a
side valley that took us back to 1,900 m altitude. In this not
well-known valley we found Islaya flavida,
Mila nealeana, Arequipa spinosissima, Melocactus peruvianus,
Loxanthocereus variabilis and an unknown species of
Corryocactus.
Close to the village at
the mouth of this valley, where the road, or rather track, that
leads into the mountains had probably been washed away by a heavy
rain storm and had never been restored, Ritter had put down its
rucksack that contained his camera. He and my wife quickly went
back and fortunately found the rucksack where he had left it. In
the mean time I wandered deep into the mountains. At this most
southern habitat location for Arequipa spinosissima I also
found
Melocactus peruvianus, which appears to grow abundantly high
into the mountains, at least to an altitude of 2,500 meter, may be
higher.
(to be continued)
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