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I have been in Argentina four times and been lucky
to see a lot of nice cacti growing in the natural habitat, plants
looking quite different from the ones we see cultivated in our
greenhouses.
Even
though I have spent almost six months in Argentina, I have seen
a rather small part of the country. As I am most interested in
the genera Lobivia and Rebutia I stayed most of
my time in the northernmost provinces Salta and Jujuy not far
from the border to Bolivia. In this part of Argentina there are
so many mountains to explore and you always find something interesting
where ever you go. The variation of the plants in the habitat
is amazing, and you can easily understand were all those "names"
come from which was produced by Backeberg, Wessner, Fric and
other collectors and botanists (forms of Rebutia aureiflora,
R. einsteinii, R. minuscula, Lobivia chrysantha etc).
I
travel by bus or foot, never by car. The longer you walk and
the longer from the town you get, the nicer plants and people
you meet! To find a rare cactus species after having searched
for it for a whole day is very exciting, but the reason why I
go to south america is not only to find cacti. Meeting people
in desolate villages and on narrow paths, talking with them about
their daily life which is so different from mine, enjoying the
silence and peace alone at 4000 metres - that is an indescribable
feeling which I do not want to be without. Up on the top of the
mountain you forget the sweat and the heat, all those painful
hours which brought you up there ...
At home much work has been done to propagate the
material. I have had a cooperation with the Botanical Garden
in Uppsala where now some hundred plants, all grown from seed,
are cultivated in the greenhouses.
I
have written a handful travelogues for some cactus journals e.g.
KAKTUS, Gymnos and Kaktusy but only a few
have been published on the Web. If you want I shall try to write
more! Or why don't YOU write something? If you have any nice
memories from a cactus trip and want to write about it please
contact me! |