Contents of the Summer 2015 Northants News

We passed by glacial melt water lakes which had a bluish-white colour due to dissolved minerals (the colour did not come out well in photos). However even at this altitude there were still villages and at Conococha we climbed the cliffs over the road to find Oroya borchersii growing amongst the sparse grass, easily spotted by their bright yellow flowers. As we descended from the mountains the plants changed and we encountered Cleistocactus sulcifer which is listed in IUCN red list of endangered species. This is a very untidy plant trailing over the cliffsides. As we returned to lower altitudes the cacti were mixed with Bromeliads, Tillandsia latifolia and Deuterochonia longipetala until eventually we were back down into tropical climates with Melocactus fortalezensis, Armatocereus ghiesbreghtii, Espostoa melanostele and Haageocereus acranthus amongst the many plants around.

Melt water lake	Oroya borcherssiiI in flower	Cumulopuntia sphaerica with flowers and fruit

After an overnight stop in Lima we then travelled on to Paracas and the following day to Nasca. This day started with a boat trip to visit the famous wildlife sanctuary of the Ballestas Islands where seals, sea-lions and many species of birds enjoy an abundance of food in the cold waters that surround the islands. We arrived in mid-afternoon at our hotel in Nasca and as most of us had hoped to take a flight over the famous Nasca lines we were escorted to the local airport where a number of small companies with smaller planes were supposed to take us up. However having given the organisers there our details  and waited for around an hour we were told that there would be no more flights that day due to poor visibility but we could come back at 06.30 the following morning. After a lot of discussion and some argument (did we want to fly or did we want to see plants) we eventually turned up the next morning at the airport. We booked in then sat and waited, eventually we went through security to airside but five minutes later were told all flights were cancelled due to poor visibility. We phoned back to the hotel and were collected, very disappointed, and continued our trip seeing the plants.

The drive that day from Nasca to Chalhuanca took in many species of Armatocereus, Haageocereus, Melocactus, Neoraimondia, Cleistocactus, Weberbaurocereus, Browningia, Cumulopuntia and Tephrocactus which certainly took away a lot of the disappointment we felt at the start of the day. One plant that covered hillsides was a very variable form of Oreocereus trollii which ranged from a pure white form to one with very brown wool particularly on newer growth.

Haageocereus acranthus	Above  Variation in the spination of Oreocereus trollii

Ed: Thanks David, and I am really looking forward to your talk on this trip this winter.