Copiapoa Britton & Rose (1922)

named after the occurrence of some species nearby the city of Copiapó, Chile
globular, later often columnar, clumping and forms large mounds
gray to green in various shades
ribs in different amount, usually only very slight
spines various also in amount, lenght and color
flowers short tubular, some fragrant, yellow to light yellow, it is a good identifying feature for this genus
fruits globular, opened at the top if they ripened
seeds usually shiny black

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Distribution

north to central Chile
Antofagasta, Atacama, Coquimbo
steppes and mountains

Growth period

Copiapoa is usually not easy to cultivate!
at the northern hemisphere is the main growth period in late summer and fall,
therefor in summer keep in sparse shade and relatively dry

Winter period

keep dry on a bright and airy location, minimum temperature 8–12°C (46–53°F)
species out of mountains also at colder temperatures

Substrat

very porous, minerally and gravelly soil
a addition of pumice, perlite and expanded slate is recommandable
   
Copiapoa haseltoniana C. Backeberg (1957)
 
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Habitat

Chile
Antofagasta - southern from Paposo to Caleta Colorada
near the coast

Description

named after Scott E. Haselton
basal and lateral branched, gray-green to light-gray, not pruinose  
ribs later partly totally flat; crown brownish
areoles to 0,9 cm (0.3 in) Ø
more spines on adult plants, to about 9, to 3 cm (1.2 in) long,
later slightly downward curved, yellowish, sometimes with dark tip
0–1 central spine
flowers yellow

Synonyms

Copiapoa gigantea var. haseltoniana (C. Backeberg) F. Ritter (1980)
Copiapoa cinerea
var. haseltoniana (C. Backeberg) N. T. Taylor (1981)
Copiapoa cinerea
ssp. haseltoniana (C. Backeberg) N. T. Taylor (1997)

CITES Appendix II
 
Description of "Kakteen von A bis Z" by Walter Haage with courtesy by Kakteen-Haage made available.

 

 

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