A Cactus Odyssey JOURNEYS IN THE WILDS OF BOLIVIA, PERU, AND ARGENTINA James D. Mauseth Roberto Kiesling Carlos Ostolaza A CACTUS ODYSSEY A CACTUS ODYSSEY J O U R N E Y S IN THE WILDS OF BOLIVIA, PERU, AND ARGENTINA JAMES D. MAUSETH ROBERTO KIESLING CARLOS OSTOLAZA TIMBER PRESS PORTLAND, OREGON Copyright © 2002 by James D. Mauseth, Roberto Kiesling, and Carlos Ostolaza All rights reserved. All photographs copyright © James D. Mauseth, Roberto Kiesling, or Carlos Ostolaza unless otherwise noted. Reproduced with permission. Frontispiece: Opuntia pachypus (see also page ) 166 Published in by Timber Press, Inc. 2002 The Haseltine Building s.w. Second Avenue, Suite 133 450 Portland, Oregon , U.S.A. 97204 Printed in Hong Kong through Colorcraft Ltd. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mauseth, James D. A cactus odyssey: journeys in the wilds of Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina / James D. Mauseth, Roberto Kiesling, Carlos Ostolaza. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ). isbn 0-88192-526-8 . Cactus—Bolivia. . Cactus—Peru. . Cactus—Argentina. 1 2 3 I. Kiesling, Roberto. II. Ostolaza, Carlos. III. Title. QK .Cn M 495 3822002 '. ' —dc 583 56098 21 200104235 CONTENTS Preface vii Chapter 1. Cacti: Introduction, Biology, and History 1 Chapter 2. Lowlands of Eastern Bolivia: Cacti in the Forest’s Shade 35 Chapter 3. Highlands of Central Bolivia: Rain, Desert, and More Rain 65 Chapter 4. Northern Peru: Fog on the Coast and in the Mountains 113 Chapter 5. South Central Peru: Cacti and Snow 167 Chapter 6. Southwestern Argentina: The Search for Maihuenia 203 Chapter 7. Northwestern Argentina: Deserts, Rainforests, Mountains, and Oreocereus 249 Bibliography 295 Index 299 PREFACE his book is the product of three people who have the good fortune to T be not only collaborators but also friends. We met in in Salta, 1986 Argentina, at a meeting of the International Society for Succulent Plant Study. R. Kiesling was the host, and as such had the pleasure of coordinating the arrival, hotels, meals, meeting rooms, and field trips of several dozen cac- tus biologists from all over the world. The meeting was a tremendous success, and the participants’ excitement after being introduced to the fantastic world of cacti in northwest Argentina was palpable. C. Ostolaza presented a talk and slide show about the many exotic cacti of Peru and described the plenti- ful opportunities that these plants presented for further studies and research. J. Mauseth merely sat in the audience and learned that cacti can grow on their own outside of test tubes in a tissue culture lab. We went our separate ways after the meeting but kept in contact. Before long we realized that because our research methods are complimentary rather than competitive, our individual research would be more productive if we combined our efforts. We began going on joint field trips. Either together or separately, we have traveled through and studied cacti in the following coun- tries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, the United States of America, Uruguay, and Venezuela. This book focuses on field trips in Bolivia in March viii Preface ; Argentina in April and March ; and Peru in March , 1995 1986 1996 1994 March and August , and January . 1997 2000 While working in the cactus habitats, as well as during many shared breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, we compared notes and swapped informa- tion about cacti. We realized, as so many field biologists do, that many fasci- nating aspects in the lives of plants never make it into the books written about them. Often, only the most factual, most distilled data are published, data which do not reveal the richness of the lives of these plants. Before we get your hopes up, however, we do not claim to be able to relate wonderful natural histories of all the cacti of South America, nor even of all the species we have encountered on our various trips. But we do think we know a few stories and details that you will find interesting, and we hope our observations may help make these plants come alive for readers who have not visited South America and seen these intriguing plants as they exist in their native territory. We have also included some background information for those who want to delve deeper into the features of spine clusters and cephalia, and into the relationship between the parasitic mistletoe, Tristerix aphyllus, and Trichocereus chilensis. In writing this book, we have become more aware than ever that so much remains to be learned. For those of you who might be looking for research opportunities in cactus biology, we think this book will suggest many research possibilities you might find irresistible. And for those of you who are not cactus biologists, we hope that this book may encourage you to partici- pate in some ecotourism. Many parts of the countries and areas we describe have excellent or at least good facilities for tourists, and the sight of an unspoiled forest of Espostoa, or Neoraimondia, or Trichocereus is unforgettable. A little about us, the authors. Among the three of us, Carlos Ostolaza’s passion for cacti goes back the furthest, almost, he claims, to his birth in in Lima. He received his med- 1936 ical degree from San Marcos University in Lima in , then specialized in 1963 abdominal surgery at one of the main Social Security Hospitals in Lima until he retired in . In one of those fateful moments we never foresee but 1990