Bridgesii
TBM short
Well documentedshort is the short-jointed form of the , also filed as B. Its segments are stubby, its ribs largely absent, and its few honey-brown spines sit mostly where new growth begins, while any shoot that goes straight back to normal bridgesii growth and can flower. Where this form came from is not recorded: the wiki page offers plausible routes and labels them speculation, and the only claim to the monstrose's origin anywhere in our sources is a specialist reference reporting Curt Backeberg's own account of it.Reported, but not confirmed.
- short segments
- few or no ribs
- blue-green skin
- reverts flower
At a glance
Species
Parents
No source names a mother or a father for this one.
Origin
no source says whether it is seed-grown or a cutting line
In the yard
Family line
No source in this library records a cross for TBM short. Nobody names a mother or a father for it, and no other entry here names it as a parent.
The longer version
Species, as our sources record it: bridgesii (syn. lageniformis), monstrose form.Reported by one source, and not corroborated anywhere else.
Growers keep it in gardens and nurseries right across South America; Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil are all named.Too little stands behind this for us to confirm it.
The wiki page's working guess is a South American origin spread by early collecting expeditions, with unconfirmed talk linking monstrose bridgesii to European botanical-garden material and early commercial seed imports.Reported, but not confirmed.
Both records agree the short form carries real spines, visible even on a small plant, which is one of the ways it is told apart from the long one.One source states this, and our house botanist has checked it. Spination strength is a real, visible difference between forms and both records agree on it.
Where the name comes from
No original collector or introduction date is recorded for this form in particular. One claim to the monstrose's origin does exist, and it is not attached to a letter: a specialist reference reports Curt Backeberg saying in his own book that he was the source of at least one of the two TBM clones, without saying which one.Reported, but not confirmed.
Character
Not documented yet.
Not documented yet.
Not documented yet.
- Skin
- Smooth and blue-green.One source states this, and our house botanist has checked it. Smooth glaucous blue-green skin is common in the genus and consistent with the rest of the description.
- Ribs
- Badly distorted or suppressed - typically none to four poorly defined ribs on a segment.One source states this, and our house botanist has checked it. Suppressed, poorly defined ribs are a standard consequence of monstrose growth in Trichocereus.
- Growth habit
- Short, segmented joints rather than long columns.
- Notes
- Areoles: gathered mostly at the foot of new growth and where segments join, each carrying one to four honey-to-cinnamon spines of 1-5 cm, while the upper surfaces of segments often stay bare.One source states this, and our house botanist has checked it. Areoles clustered at joints with a few short honey-to-cinnamon spines and bare upper faces is ordinary for monstrose growth.Reverted shoots go back to ordinary bridgesii ribbing, spination and flowering.Reported, but not confirmed.
What the sources say
The origin section is openly speculative: expedition material, European botanical gardens and early seed imports are all raised without evidence.Reported, but not confirmed.The letter naming is unreliable - the wiki's own TBM overview says which letter refers to which form varies by location, and our own notes record the same abbreviation being used for two different plants.Reported by one source, and not corroborated anywhere else.The wiki page is bot-compiled and unverified.Too little stands behind this for us to confirm it.
Related names
Keep exploring
Cultivar histories in this hobby are passed between growers; where sources disagree we say so rather than pick a side.