Our expedition to Chile in the October-November of 1997 was fortunately not adversely affected to any real degree by all the temporary road diversions and occasional wash-outs that we encountered, resulting from the combination of earthquake shocks that occurred just before our arrival, and the extremely heavy rainfall which had been caused by the El Nino effect. This unusual rainfall had certainly brought out a great deal more greenery and flowers than we had seen on our previous visits to Chile. There were great numbers of butterflies of varying sorts to be seen wherever we stopped to admire the flowers or look for the cacti. Once again we were able to find a very interesting number of Thelocephala in habitat, growing in various places. They appeared to have benefited from the extra rainfall brought by El Nino. These plants seemed to have taken up moisture into their rootstock and probably into the aerial heads as well, for we saw very little sign of shrunken and dessicated plants.
However the most impressive sight of Thelocephala that we saw was undoubtedly near Obispito, some kilometres north of the port of Caldera. We had stopped overnight at this little spot and on the following morning we drove out into the desert nearby. There is a record in Englera 16 of Thelocephala FR 502 being found to the north of Caldera, and also of RMF 131 from Agua Leones, again north of Caldera, whilst FK 519 is given as Punta de Lobos, which is fairly near to Agua Leones. On our previous visit to Chile we had been fortunate enough to find some Thelocephala kraussii near Agua Leones. If one is at a site not previously visited and also lacks the benefit of a travelling companion who knows precisely where to find Thelocephala in that area, it is usually necessary to proceed very slowly across the ground with eyes cast down to try and catch sight of some sign of an almost buried head which is flush with the surface of the ground. Or, better still, proceed on hands and knees with nose close to the ground.
But we had no need to do any searching at all on the occasion of our visit to Obispito. There, laid out before us, were hundreds of acres over which were spread flowers of Thelocephala. Even the plants which were not in flower seemed to be actually projecting above the surface of the ground for a distance of two, or perhaps even three, millimetres. Standing still at one spot I started to count the number of plants which I could see within about a yard of my feet but when I got up to fifty I gave up - there were still a great many more. This field of Thelocephala would be about three kilometres one way and two kilometres across. If it was occupied by a tenth as many Thelocephala per square metre as I had round my feet at this spot, then there were more than a million of these plants in this area.
The flowers we could see were open, but only just open, so we left this particular site with the intention of returning in the afternoon in anticipation of finding the flowers fully open. And we were not disappointed for when we went back again in the mid-afternoon the flowers were all wide open, measuring almost three inches across, with petals of a crocus yellow colour. Because the flowers were all now wide open it was possible to see even more easily just how far these plants stretched in all directions. On the very occasional plant there were some withered flowers to be seen, but these seemed to have been open literally in the previous day or two. Similarly, we did see some unopened buds which again were few and far between; they were big buds, not small ones and they did look as though they would probably open in the relatively near future, possibly on the following day. We certainly did not see any young, small buds. Nor did we see any fruit. The overall impression was of a synchronised flowering of the whole population which took place over one or two days, with the odd straggler.
On the occasion of our previous visit to Chile we had come across one, and only one, population of Thelocephala where many of the plants bore fruit. That was on T.napina to the south of Freirina in the Huasco valley, where there were hundreds of fruit to be seen - naturally it was the fruit that was to be seen above the ground because the plants were almost out of sight just below the surface. These fruit gave the impression of all being at the same stage of development. Now that we have seen this enormous field of flowering Thelocephala kraussii we suppose that the Thelocephala we saw in fruit near Freirina were also the result of synchronous flowering.
On our previous trip we had seen one flower which was nearly open and that was on T.kraussii near Agua Leones. We also saw a single flower on the T.napina near Freirina another single one on the T.malleolata v. solitaria, and again just one on the T.esmeraldana above Mina Esmeralda in Quebrada Grande, as well as a single flower of a peach colour at Canto del Agua. At each of the spots where we had seen any one of these flowers in the morning, the flower was only just open so we had come to the conclusion that they would probably open later in the day, which proved decisively to be the case with the T.kraussii near Obispito.
At the site near Obispito there was some other vegetation in the form of dwarf herbs - so dwarf that they barely exceeded ankle height. They were scattered here and there and many of them were out in flower. There were also quite few insects about, of various sorts, although certainly not in great numbers - but possibly sufficient to pollinate an appreciable number of the flowers to be seen.
.....from R.Ferryman
My recollection of flowers on Thelocephala is that I have only seen three or four plants out in flower during the course of all my previous visits to Chile. But on the occasion of our visit to Chile at the end of 1997 we were much more fortunate. We found both flower and fruit on malleolata, on esmeraldana, and on odierii. We found fruit on kraussii as well as fruit and withered flowers on fankhauseri. It is my belief that at each of these places the flowering had been brought about by rainfall. But at Cifuncho there was nothing to be seen at all, as it had not rained there. My acquaintance in Bahia Iglesia commented that the Th.odierii had not flowered for the previous five years - when I called on him three years ago he then observed that the Thelocephala there had not flowered for two years, so I feel his recollections are very probably correct.
Perhaps the most significant observation was the flowers which we saw on Th.esmeraldana, as these were not growing from close to the crown, but well away from the crown, almost at the sides.
.....from F.Kattermann
The only Thelocephala which I have seen out in flower in Chile were T.napina in the Huasco valley and even then there were only a few plants out in flower.
.....from C.Pugh
During our 1994 visit to Chile we saw only one, or at the most, two open flowers on Thelocephala.
.....from W.Maechler
When do Thelocephala flower in Chile? Whenever good rains have fallen, Thelocephala tend to bloom. Over the last few years only a few Thelocephala have managed to bloom, as so little rain has fallen. The normal flowering season is likely to be between the middle of August to the beginning of December, dependent upon rainfall.
In the middle of August 1997 I was in the vicinity of Totoral and Totoral Bajo. It had already rained in this area in June and everything was green. There were scattered specimens of Thelocephala fulva in bloom here, as well as some glabrescens. All along the coast the sky was overcast during the morning with mist or cloud so that there was no full sunshine. Consequently the flowers on the Thelocephala had not opened completely. Because it is fairly cool along the coast when it is overcast, I would suppose that the flowers had been at a standstill for perhaps a week or longer. Some plants already had withered flowers. As far as the plants that I saw there, the flowers would be situated at about the middle of the plant.
Early in September we came down from the north for an overnight stay in Pan de Azucar and on the next morning we took a brief look round in the vicinity, where a similar situation prevailed. There was T.malleolata with some smaller and some larger flower buds of which some were half-open. But here, too, the sky was overcast and it was relatively cool. This was also the situation to the south of Chanaral where I searched over the habitat location in the morning, with the T.malleolata v.solitaria there and further south again with T.longirapa, where the flowers buds were also close to the centre. Unfortunately it transpired that I was always at the habitat locations in the morning under an overcast sky, but one really needs a programme where one can sometimes stay in one place for a while.
At all these foregoing habitat locations I have of course only seen plants with flower buds. At many of their described habitat locations, I have not seen any Thelocephala; I am not aware if they are perhaps known to be difficult to be find. Probably there were many plants still covered over by the sand and possibly some days or weeks later they came into flower.
.....from Mrs.G.Craig
We were not far from Freirina when we decided to make a stop for some refreshments out of the hamper. We were on a fairly level patch of ground and Alan took a walk over to see what might be growing at a likely looking spot about two or three hundred yards away. There was something of interest there, so he came back for the camera and I walked back with him to see what was being photographed. Then we set off back to the vehicle for something to eat. As we were walking back, Alan suddenly stopped and pointed in front of us. At first I could not see what he was pointing at, but then realised that he had seen a Thelocephala fruit standing above the surface of the ground, perhaps five or ten yards from us. When we walked over to take a close look at this fruit, it took a moment or two to see precisely where it was even though we were almost standing on top of it. Where there was one of these plants, there might well be others, so we looked around, trying to look five or ten yards away in order to see if there was any more fruit standing above the surface of the ground. We were surprised to find more fruits, provided we looked a suitable distance away from where we were standing. Once we had found out how to pick out the fruit, then we discovered that they were all round us, all over the level piece of ground, hundreds of them. If it had not been for the chance sighting of the one fruit, we would have left this spot believing that there were no Thelocephala growing there, despite having walked four times over the same piece of ground.
.....from A.W.Craig
In Chileans No.55 there was some discussion over the position of the flowers on Thelocephala and it was suggested that the flowers usually appeared from near the growing point, or at least at the top of the plant. But where is the top of a Thelocephala? In habitat these plants are usually growing with their bodies more or less flush with the surface of the ground so that this flat area forms the top of the plant. But if any of these plants are brought into cultivation and given a reasonably frequent watering, the body will fill out so that what had previously been a flat top becomes a typical crown. Those Thelocephala illustrated in Kattermann's Eriosyce book which are flowering in cultivation and have a flower appearing more or less at the shoulder, would no doubt have the flower standing up from the flat top of the plant in habitat.
(From Chileans No56, published February 1999)