| Trout's Snout
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| ACTUAL TROUTISMS |
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"We recognize the work in your hands has no authoritative merit. Be
that as it may,...we will attempt to paint a nice picture of the
confusion..." |
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"There are layers
of additional introductions of confusion including correctly
labeled, mislabeled and unlabeled plants, entering horticulture
through an indeterminate number of university-funded cactus
collection expeditions and other sources for material destined to
populate botanical gardens, as well as from commercial outlets and a
myriad of private Trichocereus collectors whose activities span more
than half a century." |
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"The following work should not be viewed as any sort of authoritative
declaration concerning the taxonomy of the pachanoid-peruvianoid
Trichocereus species, but rather it should be seen as a overview of
what readers may encounter in horticulture accompanied by some
verbal and visual guideposts that MIGHT be of value to the reader
who, like myself, is foolhardy enough to attempt navigating through
this section of what often seems to resemble a taxonomic analog of
the Sargasso Sea." |
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"...should our readers
encounter anyone who considers themselves an expert on this genus,
...their best
course of action is probably to nod one's head, indicating a lack of
desire to argue, & leave them to their beliefs."
[Does this
include Trout?] |
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Excerpt from intro (the entire book
is in this caption sized text) |
Trout's Notes on San Pedro
An important comment concerning the images we included
The subgenus Trichocereus (and for that matter Echinopsis itself) is
presently hopelessly muddled. This situation is the result of a
complex combination of, at least, several factors.
The first being the disturbing fact that shoddy to inadequate
descriptions exist for many, if not most, of the species considered
to comprise the subgenus. This is further complicated by there being
no meaningful systematic overview or monograph. The creation of such
is almost precluded by the existence of a bewildering wealth of
hybrids or intermediates not just in horticulture but also as what
appears to be hybrid swarming and/or grex in the wild.
There are layers of additional introductions of confusion including
correctly labeled, mislabeled and unlabeled plants, entering
horticulture through an indeterminate number of university-funded
cactus collection expeditions and other sources for material
destined to populate botanical gardens, as well as from commercial
outlets and a myriad of private Trichocereus collectors whose
activities span more than half a century. Many of these have failed
to retain proper identification and/or labeling.
There are the perhaps less numerous but still no less confusing
progeny resulting from isolated thefts of seeds from botanical
gardens introducing what are most often hybrids under the name of
the mother plant (sometimes even now accompanied by HER collection
number!)
There is also impact resulting from the lengthy and prolific
WORLDWIDE wholesale distribution of an amazing morphological
spectrum of these cacti by Karel Knize, who we will mention again
later. Hopefully the reader will rapidly discern the extent of this
for themselves while viewing the various Knize-sourced cacti shown
within these pages. Despite the immense & multilayered morass of
confusion arriving along with them, any pachanoid-peruvianophiles
might reflect on a sense of some gratitude for the existence of Sr.
Knize due to his steady wholesale output of mass quantities of such
beautiful and often excellent, although frequently poorly labeled,
Trichocereus cuttings and seeds over a period of time approaching 40
years. No matter what complants may have been justifiably voiced,
Knize has in fact provided an amazing volume of living biomass to
cactus suppliers and other horticulturalists all over the world.
There is also the impact of literally millennia of deliberate
cultivation in regions where San Pedro was not native but where it
proved to be readily hybridizable with many other Trichocerei and
probably a few other related genera of cacti as well. We will also
comment more on this later.
The following work should not be viewed as any sort of authoritative
declaration concerning the taxonomy of the pachanoid-peruvianoid
Trichocereus species, but rather it should be seen as a overview of
what readers may encounter in horticulture accompanied by some
verbal and visual guideposts that MIGHT be of value to the reader
who, like myself, is foolhardy enough to attempt navigating through
this section of what often seems to resemble a taxonomic analog of
the Sargasso Sea.
Our inclusion of a plant within a particular species should not be
seen as indicating our agreement that it actually belongs in that
species; only that it has been sold or represented as such.
Our goal is only to help familiarize our readers with this section
of the Trichocereus species.
We would also suggest that should our readers encounter anyone who
considers themselves an expert on this genus, or
anyone who insists that they know what differentiates, say, a short-spined
peruvianus from a long-spined pachanoi, their best
course of action is probably to nod one's head, indicating a lack of
desire to argue, & leave them to their beliefs.
However, that being
said:
If the experts can't be bothered to write a monograph or to address
the nomenclatural confusion that they obviously recognize as
resulting from the "reunification", their spotty pronouncements can,
and probably should, be ignored.
We recognize the work in your hands has no authoritative merit. Be
that as it may, we think it is more likely help the reader with
interest to better recognize them than any taxonomic key or
authoritative work in existence. Or at least, we will attempt to
paint a nice picture of the confusion in hopes of dispelling at
least some of the mythology that accompanies it.
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My first thought was "What are these people
smoking?" Then I saw the butane lighter (above) used as the
scale object.
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BELOW:
Trout's book contains about 100 pages such as this one; B&W images
like a sink full of dirty dishes. |
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| More bonsai sized flowerpot odd balls |
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If you
have a review of this book,
or find one on the Internet, please send me the URL. |
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