T. hirta had, up to now, been treated as T. gilliesii, probably because of the similarity in the habit. As a matter of fact T. hirta seems closer to T. caliginosa , yet the relative association is not wholely without problems. The inflorescence arrangement of T. hirta with 1 - 3-flowered, relatively stocky scape is clearly distinct from T. caliginosa with its rather lengthened inflorescence and and stronger rhachis: which reminds us of T. capillaris Ruiz & Pavon S. L.! It is interesting that near Arequipa , south Peru, plants could be collected that strongly suggest a hybrid T. hirta X T. capillaris and confirmed the suppositions of a relative association between both species as indicated above (W. TILL 225). Whether T. hirta is of hybrid origin is hard to judge. It links with T. gilliesii in our opinion in only a convergence in habit, growing in different areas independent from each other: T. hirta reaches from south Peru over the Bolivian Andes up to north Argentina, T. gilliesii s. str. In comparison comes from Catamarca southwards to Mendoza; with a rock-growing form is for example from Angulos/Catamarca and in the Sierra Ventana. —SeeTill & Vitek 1985
