Achiras

Late summer gave the end to flower for most of plants but still I found few tiny flowers which showed themselves out from burned grass with strong reddish color. Small flowers were so shiny that I noticed them on five or more meters away though they measured only a centimeter across.

Between stones were hidden small Lobivia aurea plants. We found only few specimens which were much more burnt as G. achirasense.

Between bunches of grass grew big plants of Puya. Sharp tiny prickles were not so dangerous as I imagined before we came there. From home, I know Puyas as unpleasant plants, but here we simply tread on them. We could compare Puyas to our thistle only that they are much bigger.

On that hills the Puyas were exposed to full sun and the rosettes grew only to twenty centimeters across. On a meter high flower stalks the seeds were falling out from opened dried fruits. It looked like these Puyas finished with flowering long time ago.

The giant round stones on low hills by the road were the place of our first cactus stop. Behind cliffs the railing of barbed wire appeared which made the edge of wide grasslands. We saw the railings again and again even some enclosed places didn't look to be pleasant to any animals except snakes.

The land didn't look interesting at all. If we would search for cacti from the bus, we could never find them. The cliffs of granite like material looked at first like big gravel, as a big river grinded it and gathered on that place.

First cactus I found was Puya. But first real spined friend was surelyGymnocalycium achirasense. Very big plants were hidden in grass and there was almost no specimen which would grow on direct sun. Although heat and full of light they were not burnt at all and they looked very healthy. We didn't find any flowers or fruits.

The rare flowers were dying on full sun.