Echinopsis tiegeliana
Echinopsis tiegeliana is a cactus native to northwest Argentina and Bolivia. It usually grows alone and forms small, shiny green shoots that are almost spherical and up to 6 cm wide. It has 17–20 sharp-edged ribs with cusps. The white areoles sit about 1.5 cm apart. Spines are reddish to horn-colored, turning gray with age; there are up to three central spines that point downward and can be up to 5 cm long, and eight to ten marginal spines, up to about 4–6 cm long.
The flowers are shiny violet-pink and open during the day; the flaviflora variety has yellow flowers. They appear near the top of the shoot and can be up to 2.5 cm long and about 4.3 cm in diameter. Fruits are spherical to egg-shaped and semi-dry, tearing open when mature.
Echinopsis tiegeliana has synonyms including Lobivia tiegeliana. It was first described as Lobivia tiegeliana by Wilhelm Wessner in 1939 and moved to the genus Echinopsis in 1991. The name honors Ernst Tiegel (1879–1936). The plant grows at elevations of roughly 1900–3300 meters in the Bolivian Tarija region and the Argentine province of Salta.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 05:35 (CET).