Accepted Scientific Name: Echinopsis cv. Chamäleon
х Trichopsis cv. Chamäleon (Echinopsis cv. Chamäleon) Photo by: Valentino Vallicelli
A flower in the first day. The blooms with rounded petals reach 14 cm in diameter and usually endure for two days.
Synonyms:
Description: The name of this Trichocereus hybrid derives from the fact that the flowers discolour the on the second day. They are tender pastel red-orangish-pinkish on the first day while on the second they became clearly pastel-pink, throat is dark green, filaments fuchsia, anthers and stigma are a clear pastel. Growth is sturdy thick columnar type growth.
Subspecies, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Echinopsis hybrid (Trichopsis) group
- Echinopsis cv. Apricot Glow: has multi-coloured with delicate shadings of apricot, orange-red and yellow.
- Echinopsis cv. Barbara Cornely: Large-sized with beautiful salmon, pink and fuchsia tones.
- Echinopsis cv. Chamäleon: flowers are pastel red-orangish-pinkish on the first day while on the second they became clearly pastel-pink.
- Echinopsis cv. Chelsea Girl: has multi-coloured flowers with delicate shadings of white, pink and purple.
- Echinopsis cv. Dione: has bright lilac-carmine blooms with reddish-lilac-coloured margins, paler pink midline, green-yellowish throat.
- Echinopsis cv. Gräser Freunde: has bloom of approx 14 cm, bright magenta with a contrasting vermillion midline, the outer petals are dark scarlet.
- Echinopsis cv. Gräser´s Schönste: it is the most beautiful and most sought “Aporocandicans” with frilled salmon and pink flowers.
- Echinopsis cv. June Noon: has candid white petal with a canary yellow midrib. It is a Dimmitt hybid.
- Echinopsis cv. Super Apricot V. JB. Kornely: Flowers are multi-coloured with delicate shadings of apricot, orange-red and yellow.
- Echinopsis cv. Volcanic Sunset: has dark orange-red, long lasting flowers, with wide petals and rounded tips. 10-12(-15) cm across.
- Echinopsis cv. Yellow California: has bright yellow flowers with golden-yellow on the inner petals and some burnt orange on back petals and a lighter yellow throat.
- Echinopsis hybrid (Trichocereus) f. variegata hort.: has yellow and green variegated stems.
- Echinopsis hybrid (Trichopsis group): wide heterogeneous category of hybrids involving various Trichocores species (now Echinopsis) and other Echinopsis species and Lobivias.
The flower on the second turns to a pink to violet tinge. (Echinopsis cv. Chamäleon) Photo by: Cactus Art х Trichopsis cv. Chamäleon (Echinopsis cv. Chamäleon) Photo by: Cactus Art х Trichopsis cv. Chamäleon (Echinopsis cv. Chamäleon) Photo by: Cactus Art Throat dark green, filaments fuchsia . Anthers and stigma clear pastel (Echinopsis cv. Chamäleon) Photo by: Cactus Art Cultivation and Propagation: Variegated cacti are regarded as choice and difficult in cultivation, but despite that many of them are relatively easy to grow. But be aware that they cannot tolerate prolonged exposure to direct sun light (especially during the hottest summer days), so grow them in half-shade or under filtered sun. They are sometime seen as grafted plants, but some of this colourful plants (those with some chlorophyll) are able to grow on their own roots and are priced by collectors.
Soil: Use mineral well-permeable substratum with little organic matter (peat, humus).
Watering: Water sparingly from March till October, and keep perfectly dry in winter, at temperatures from 5 to 15 degrees centigrade. (In general these plants are more tender and cannot endure freezing temperatures). In the rest period no high atmospheric humidity!!
Propagation: By seeds, grafting or cutting. Because the variegation is due to the presence of two kinds of plant tissue, propagating the plant must be by a vegetative method of propagation that preserves both types of tissue in relation to each other. A most common way way to cultivate this partially de-coloured cultivars is to graft them onto another cactus which has chlorophyll and which will provide sugar to the mutant scion. The chlorophyll containing bottom part of the graft, called the stock, can be any number of different columnar cactus species.
Remarks: Seeds from variegated parents often give raise to some variegated seedlings too.