Penis cactus: the monstrose Trichocereus bridgesii in a pot
Trichocereus bridgesii, filed under Echinopsis lageniformis in current taxonomy, grows wild in Bolivia, in the departments of La Paz, Cochabamba, Tarija and Chuquisaca, at altitudes between one thousand and three thousand three hundred metres. In the wild the ordinary form becomes a shrub or small tree of two to five metres with stems fifteen to twenty centimetres thick and usually four to eight ribs. The large areoles, set one and a half to three centimetres apart, carry two to six uneven spines ranging from a couple of millimetres to seven centimetres, honey coloured through to brown. On well grown plants, long funnel shaped white flowers of fifteen to twenty centimetres open at night and carry a clear scent; a round, hairy fruit of four to six centimetres follows.
This plant is the monstrose form of that species, and it looks nothing like it. Instead of one straight column it puts out short, heavily branching segments that together make a low, spiny bush. Each segment is smooth and spineless at the top and spiny towards the base, where the ribs start to form again. The colour is light green and growth is slower than in the ordinary bridgesii. That shape is where the trade names come from: penis cactus, and in German speaking countries Frauenglück. Since every plant develops differently, the specimen you receive will never match the photo exactly. Around La Paz the indigenous population knows this species as achuma or wachuma, names also applied elsewhere to related Trichocereus species.
Care in five points
- Light: as much as possible, ideally behind a south facing window. Too little light gives pale, floppy growth.
- Soil: a mineral cactus mix with a good share of coarse sand, perlite or pumice, in a pot with drainage holes.
- Water: during the growing season only once the pot is bone dry, roughly every ten to fourteen days.
- Winter: move it somewhere cooler and drier and cut watering back to once every three to four weeks or less.
- Repotting: in spring, once the roots fill the pot, and then leave it dry for a week.
Root rot is just about the only thing that kills this cactus, and it always traces back to watering too often in soil that holds moisture. Keep the spines in mind when you pick it up: they are short but sturdy.
More cacti at Avalon
At Avalon Magic Plants this monstrose form also comes as an unrooted cutting of 25 to 30 centimetres and as a larger rooted specimen. Alongside it you will find the ordinary Bolivian Torch in several lengths, seeds of Trichocereus bridgesii, San Pedro as a cutting and potted, the San Pedro monstruosus, the Peruvian Torch, the Cuzco and complete grow sets for cactus seed. All plants ship discreetly packed.
