Species
Santaensis
A published name with a small field record behind it, gathered along one Peruvian river valley.
The name
The International Plant Names Index records Trichocereus santaensis Rauh & Backeb. as a validly published name, first published in 1956. The same plant was also published as Echinopsis santaensis by Friedrich and Rowley in 1974.Reported by one source, and not corroborated anywhere else.
What this page does not say
No taxonomic treatment was opened for this name on the pass that wrote this page, so nothing here says which genus it currently sits in.
What has been found in the wild
Asked for Trichocereus santaensis by name, the collectors' own field-number lists return 8 distinct collections from 5 collectors — 4 at Peruvian localities and 4 whose locality names no country. The localities that do name a place cluster along the Rio Santa valley, around Caraz and Huaraz in Ancash, which is where the epithet comes from.Reported by one source, and not corroborated anywhere else.
Every feature on this page moves with age, sun and water: a thirsty plant in hard light grows longer spines and a heavier bloom than the same clone in the shade. None of it settles an identity on its own, a clone name is not proof of a species, and a photograph is a pointer rather than an answer.