A Cactus Odyssey: Journeys in the Wilds of Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina

324 Pages·2002·11.974 MB·English

by  James D. Mauseth, Roberto Kiesling, Carlos Ostolaza

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