[Sacred Succulents] News + Bolivian travelogue pt 1

[Sacred Succulents]

6/3/10

Greetings,

We have been blessed with continual rain here in northern 
California, this will be the first time in many years that the 
aquifers are overflowing and there are no worries of drought. All 
the rain has overwhlemed us with grass and weeds, the land is 
palpably green. I’ve been spending a good deal of my time since 
returning from the Andes cutting grass with the scythe and 
unearthing plants that were smothered beneath overly jubilant weeds 
in our perennial garden.

This Sunday we will be vending at the All Things Herbal fair from 
9:30 till 4 at the Sebastopol town center next to the Farmer’s 
Market. We have lots of great plants to bring such as Andean 
tubers, new Trichocereus seedlings, and an array of medicinals and 
edibles. Stop by and say hello!. 20% of sales go to supporting the 
Sonoma County Herb Exchange.

Our grenhouse is brimming over and we have a diversity of new 
plants to offer you plus new seed just in from South Africa, the 
Himalayas and Chile. We will list these as soon as we can make the 
time to write up descriptions. A few new things are listed at the 
bottom of this email.

What follows is a further report on our recent Andean expedition. 
We will continue this travelogue over the next 2-3 weeks.

Bolivian Travelogue part 1 - 

Upon arriving in La Paz city we felt compelled to sample a brand 
new Bolivian soft drink appropriately named Coca Colla . Released 
in April, this is one of the first first sodas in nearly a century 
to contain a full spectrum coca leaf extract (coca leaf is still a 
key flavoring in Coca Cola, but the alkaloids are removed). 
See- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/14/coca-colla-real-
thing-bolivia 
Our inquiries at the local markets were generally met with 
perplexed looks, but a few folks had heard of it, yet no one knew 
who was actually selling it. Soon we had had enough of the city, so 
we put our search on hold and headed south to Hacienda Huachjilla 
to check on threatened populations of our cactus friend 
Trichocereus bridgesii, the famed “achuma”. The achuma stands and 
all their associated flora continue to be removed along the valley 
floor to make way for upscale housing, a golf course and other 
developments for La Paz’s affluent. The cactus populations on the 
surrounding mountain slopes remain relatively undisturbed. Here 
they grow to 15’+, often nestled amongst their nurse tree; a 
Prosopis species with sweet chewy purple pods. Here we said hello 
to Corryocactus melanotrichus and Oreocerus pseudofossulatus and 
made seed collections of Echinopsis bridgesii, the red flowered 
Salvia haenkei, a small Puya species, and an interesting bushy 
Ephedra americana that shows some of the morphological 
characteristics of the Chilean Ephedra breana. 
The next day we made the short flight to Cochabamba Dept. in the 
central highlands. The city of Cochabamba is located in an 
unusually broad valley basin in an otherwise very mountainous 
region. The rich alluvial soils and mild climate make it the 
breadbasket of Bolivia, and it has been such since the Tiwanaku 
culture’s hallucinogen fueled dreams birthed the first Andean 
empire two thousand years ago. The Incas claimed the area in the 
1400s and colonised the region with a large population of Quechua 
agriculturalists taken from across their empire. Quechua is still 
the main indigenous dialect in the area, where most of Bolivia 
speaks Aymara. The Quechua name Cochabamba means “plain of lakes”, 
though nearly all of the lakes have been filled in since the 
Spanish conquest. The modern city of Cochabamba is the most U.S.-
like city in South America I’ve been to, reminiscent of L.A. or San 
Diego of decades past, much of it surprisingly suburban.
After another fruitless search for Coca Colla, a visit to the 
vegetal painted stalls of the farmers markets, and an informative 
stop by the the biology department at San Simon University, we 
clambered part way up the dry slopes of Cerro San Pedro at the edge 
of town to greet the local flora. Here we paid our respects to 
large stands of the the columnar cactus Harrisia tephracantha 
(=Roseocereus), Cleistocactus, globular Echinopsis, Opuntia, Puya, 
and the striking papaya Carica quercifolia, a pachycaul tree to 20’ 
with gorgeous bronze colored peeling bark, similar to our beloved 
Bursera species. A visit to the nearby Martin Cardenas Botanical 
Garden allowed examination of interesting regional Trichocereus, 
including a short spined T. bridgesii, the robust and spiny T. 
taquimbalensis, and a mysterious short spined Trichocereus that is 
widely planted around town. Botanists refer to this as “T. 
pachanoi”, yet it is distinctly different than the San Pedro of 
Peru and Ecuador, more like an intermediate between T. bridgesii 
and T. scopulicolus from southern Bolivia. There was also a small 
neglected specimen of T. riomizquensis, a little known plant in the 
pachanoi/bridgesii complex which we hoped to track down in the wild 
for Dr. Martin Terry’s genetic studies of the genus. At the garden 
herbarium there was a single collection of this species from (as 
expected) Campero Province to the east, but along a different 
watershed than the only confirmed collection of the cactus; 
Friedrich Ritter’s 1950s collection from Chujllas on the Mizque 
River. Through the help of herbarium staff and careful 
scrutinization of the Prosopis collections Neil confirmed that 
Campero is also where we would find what may be a disjunct 
population of Prosopis pallida, the sacred algorroba, what was the 
“tree of life” for coastal Peru for millennia, possibly brought to 
Cochabamba Dept. during the Quechua migration of the 15th century. 
With coordintates in hand, the next day we headed east towards the 
mountains with the eventual goal of arriving in the river valleys 
of Campero to encounter some of the strange plants that had called 
us here....
... to be continued.

RARE PLANT & SEED LIST - Issue 29 is available. A very large and 
diverse issue, don’t miss it! If you are not subscribed or have let 
your subscription lapse, we encourage you to sign up now. 4 issues 
for $5 or 8 issues for $8. This is where we list our offerings of 
rarities and specimens. 

GIFT CERTIFICATES - are always available!

NEW OFFERINGS 

Andean Collections and Photos 2010- CD/DVD with 300+ photos from 
our Spring travels in Cusco, Peru, and Cochabamba, Bolivia. List of 
our seed collections with ethnobotanical notes and cultivation 
suggestions. Available by mid July. Pre-order now. $10 postage 
paid, foreign orders add $2.

Agave difformis “Xixi”
Agavaceae. Freely clustering rosettes to about 2' with slender 
polymorphic yellow-green leaves, varying from straight to 
hypnotically wavy, toothed to unarmed, sometimes with a silver 
central stripe. Flower stalk to 10' bearing yellowish to pink 
flowers. Native to the limestone soils of the Sierra Madre 
Oriental, 5–6,000', Mexico. Seed collected from El Tephe, Hidalgo. 
The macerated fiber was reportedly used as soap. An attractive 
unusual smaller species. Z8b  2" seedling $6.50

Desfontainia spinosa “Taique” “Borrachero”
Desfontainaiceae. Highly ornamental evergreen shrub. Holly like 
leaves and 1" tubular red flowers with yellow tips followed 
purplish yellow-green fruits. Grows in a limited range from the 
Columbian Andes south to Chile. Generally considered a monotypic 
species with a family all its own. We first encountered this 
beautiful plant in Cusco, Peru between the ruins of Sayacmarca and 
Runkurakay, at 12,500'. Used throughout its range as an 
ethnomedicinal inebrient, possibly as a delirient entheogen. The 
chemistry is unknown. Easy to grow, in full sun it stays a bush, to 
6', in part shade it can reach 15' or more. Well drained rich acid 
soil. Drought tolerant once established, but prefers ample water. 
Rare in cultivation. We offer a Chilean clone. Z8b  6"+ plant 
$14.50

Dioscorea caucasica
Dioscoreaceae. From an underground caudex arise twining vines to 
10' with prominently veined heart shape leaves. A rare endemic of 
the forests of the western Caucasus Mountains where Holubec 
collected this seed. Medicinal. Easily grown, dormant in Winter. 
Z5–6.  Plant $9.50 (limited)

Fabiana viscosa
Solanaceae. Shrub to 3' with small sticky cylindrical leaves. 
Tubular yellow flowers cover the plant. Occurs up to 6,500' in 
Region 3 & 4, Chile. Another beautiful and bizarre erica-like 
tobacco relative. Medicinal, aromatic, and possibly psychoactive. 
Drought hardy. Z9a   Plant $9.50 (limited)

Phytolacca insularis
Phytollacaceae. Bush to 10' with simple leaves, red stems, pinkish 
flowers and black berries. An endangered and rare Korean endemic 
poke, conservation through propagation is encouraged. The leaves 
have anti-viral compounds. Part shade and rich soil. Z6?  Plant 
$7.50

NEW BOOKS
We’ve added over a dozen new titles. For the complete list see- 
http://www.sacredsucculents.com/books.html


SHIPPING & HANDLING:
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Plants (USA only)– First class priority mail= $6.00 for the first 
plant $1.50 each additional plant.
Seeds ride free when ordered with plants.
Add $1 per plant if you want them sent potted.

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