Tr. bridgesii “Bruce” – Pups

Eileen History

BRUCE is a beautiful Trichocereus bridgesii aka Echinopsis lageniformis with very broad ribs and a funny spination. Just like many other, it is a Trichocereus hybrid of Australian origin. Because of the broad ribs, this plant tends to have relatively few ribs. Most plants I´ve seen had between 4 and 6 ribs. The mother plant goes back to the SAB member BLACKDRAGON, who had a giant monster of this amazing plant growing in his garden. He also managed to get it to flower and the flower was relatively typical for a Tr.bridgesii.

This clone is suspected to be somewhat related to the Tr. bridgesii clone EILEEN, that was growing in front of reshroomED´s house. Personally, I would not be surprised if both were grown from similar or the same seed lots. But that´s just speculation and I have yet to hear more detailed information on the background. The plant is also known to show a “melting” look from time to time, which indicates that this is (at least partially) mutated somehow. BRUCE comes from South Australia and is also very similar to the clone MBN95/ SUPER BRIDGE, which more or less lost as I do not know of anyone who has that plant with an intact label.

Steps For Rooting

Once the cut is received, place it around 1/2 inch to 1 inch in a pot of substrate. I use wooden kebab skewers to hold up the piece. Water lightly and you should start getting new root growth within a few weeks to a few months depending on conditions. Pups will start forming once the root system has established itself.

Locality

Trichocereus bridgesii is native to Bolivia, where it grows in the dry Andean valleys.

History and Taxonomy

The species was originally published as Cereus bridgesii by German botanist Joseph zu Salm-Reifferscheidt-Dyck, usually cited as Salm-Dyck, in 1850. His original account records that English botanist and plant collector Thomas Bridges brought the plant from Bolivia in 1846. The name bridgesii was given in his honour. Britton and Rose transferred the species to the genus Trichocereus in 1920, creating the familiar name Trichocereus bridgesii. Following the later reclassification of Trichocereus into Echinopsis, the species became Echinopsis lageniformis. It could not be called Echinopsis bridgesii because that name had already been used for a different Bolivian cactus. Echinopsis lageniformis is the currently accepted botanical name, although Trichocereus bridgesii remains firmly established among growers and collectors, many of whom still refuse to bow to the great Echinopsis takeover!

Synonyms

• Echinopsis lageniformis
• Bolivian Torch Cactus
• Cereus bridgesii var. lageniformis
• Trichocereus bridgesii var. lageniformis
• Wachuma Bolivia
• Achuma Bolivia