CoronaCactus Nursery LLC

CoronaCactus Nursery LLC.

�Cactus & Succulent growers.

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Cultivation Key

�Full sun / light shade �Light water� �Deep pot / taproot

Books/Websites: The Cactus File Handbook: Copiapoa is a great reference book. Photos of habitat and cultivated plants with clear descriptions. Written by Graham Charles. A great website is Copiapoa: Living on the edge. All kinds of great Copiapoa info! More websites can be found on our Reference Links page.

Forms of C. humilis:

Northern types

C. humilis ssp. humilis

C. humilis ssp. tocopillana

C. humilis ssp. tenuissima

C. humilis ssp. varispinata

*C. humilis ssp. paposoensis (=C. humilis ssp. varispinata)

**C. humilis ssp. esmeraldana (=grandiflora ssp. ritteri)

Southern types

C. humilis ssp. longispina

**C. humilis sp. �Guanillos� (=C. angustiflora)

C. humilis ssp. australis

Plant of the Month

December 2008

�

Humildito

Copiapoa humilis ssp. humilis

Cactaceae (Cactus Family)

Form: Copiapoa humilis ssp. humilis is probably the most popular specie of Copiapoa in cultivation. Its habitat is the coastal deserts of Northern Chile near the city of Paposo. Other subspecies range from Huasco, in the south all the way up to Tocopilla in the north. The northern region is extremely arid and might see rainfall every 5-7 years. The southern region gets regular winter rainfall. Copiapoa have adapted well to their surroundings, they get regular rolling mist fog (known as camanchaca) They are able to retain moisture in their large taproots to withstand these long periods of drought and are able to briefly replenish themselves with the rolling fog moisture. This a small, low growing specie that usually stays solitary in habitat. Globular to globular/cylindrical. When grown in cultivation it can get quite a bit bigger and can freely offset. These plants are extremely variable and have given taxonomist�s fits for years. C. humilis is soft body type with short spines, starting off as juvenile and weak, growing into a more stout spination. The apex of the plant has a white wooly tuft and there can also be white tufts of wool growing from the areoles. C. humilis also has a large tuberous taproot capable of storing a lot of moisture to keep it alive.� There are several forms of C. humilis classed as subspecies. Some are shown below.

Size: Generally small and low growing in habitat, but can reach up to 6-10� in cultivation and form large clusters. However, often enough, habitat clusters can be found. This is usually due to Guanaco feedings and/or insect larvae damage. Guanaco are the local animals (similar to a Llama) that eat the heads off the plants. If the taproot has not been eaten or damaged beyond reproduction, it will produce new heads and start to form a cluster.

Flowers/Fruit: As with almost all Copiapoas, the flowers are a nice yellow color. They grow from the wooly apex of the plant. The shape of the flowers can vary from specie to specie. The fruit are a dark brown to dark green color and usually stay embedded in the wooly apex. The fruit will split at the top to reveal a cup like container holding about 30-50 seeds.

Sun/Water: C. humilis can take full sun, but should be protected from the intense afternoon Southwest USA heat and sun (Arizona, Nevada, California) Light watering during the growing season is all that is needed. Make sure to use a well draining soil mix and that it drys out completely between waterings.

Propagation: From offsets or seed. Commonly grown from seed, they can be slow, but under the right conditions, they can flower by the age of 2. Making them a popular specie for seed raising in cultivation.

Notes:

As with all cacti taxon, new discoveries have been made and ongoing research has led to changes. Some of the plants shown here have been confirmed to relate to other types of Copiapoa and no longer belong to the humilis group. We have chosen to still include them in this article, as people have come to know them as such, but have included these notes on the recent changes. We�ll leave it up to you, if you want to change your labels or not.

*C. humilis ssp. paposoensis (=C. humilis ssp. varispinata)

This taxon still belongs to the humilis group, however, the name ssp. paposoensis has been reduced to synonymy. Now replaced with ssp. varispinata. Described here in a 2004 British Cactus & Succulent journal hosted by Copiapoa.info Paul Hoxey: Some notes on Copiapoa humilis: varispinata

A quote from the text:

�C. humilis subsp. varispinata grows in the vicinity of the Iscu�a Valley, some 50km north of Paposo, as reported by Ritter. The plants I saw in habitat tended to be small squat plants, wider than high, growing among rocks and stones, distinctly ribbed with 15-18 ribs, forming small clusters. The spination is variable, as alluded to in the name, although this appeared to have more to do with the size and age of the plants, as is typical in the C. humilis group.�

C. humilis ssp. paposoensis

(=C. humilis ssp. varispinata)

**C. humilis ssp. esmeraldana (=grandiflora ssp. ritteri)

C. esmeraldana is described in a 2004 BCSS Journal article as C. grandiflora ssp. ritteri, hosted by Copiapoa.info Paul Hoxey - Some notes on Copiapoa humilis: grandiflora ssp. ritteri Confirming that this taxon no longer belongs to the humilis group.

A quote from that text:

�The most significant feature of this taxon which I have seen only on cultivated plants is the large, campanulate shaped flower which emerges from the dense wool covering the apex. The flower shape is quite unlike Copiapoa humilis and indicates that this taxon cannot belong to the C. humilis group.�

C. humilis ssp. esmeraldana

(=C. grandiflora ssp. ritteri)

**C. humilis sp. �Guanillos� (=C. angustiflora)

The new name C. angustiflora was published in the BCSS Journal 2006 (4). Confirming that this taxon no longer belongs to the humilis group.

Another BCSS article, this from 2004, also hosted by Copiapoa.info Paul Hoxey - Some notes on Copiapoa humilis: sp. Guanillos describes the incompatibility of this plant being part of the humilis group.

A quote from the text:

"I believe that this taxon requires a name, as it is quite distinct from C. humilis subsp. humilis, with different habitat preference, body shape and colour, short or absent spination and a smaller flower. Seedlings grown in cultivation appear to retain these characteristics.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of a type specimen, I cannot validly describe this plant at this time.�

Photo and caption to the right,

borrowed from www.copiapoa.info

Figure 17 Copiapoa humilis from Guanillos PH265.04
(Esmeralda 300m) heavily spined plant, note the very small
flower (Photo: C. Brunt)

C. humilis ssp. humilis

Photo courtesy of Craig Fry

C. humilis (ssp. ??)

Seedling of C. humilis ssp. tocopillana

(about 5 years old)

Photo courtesy of Ian N.

C. humilis ssp. longispina

C. humilis ssp. tenuissima

f. monstrose

C. humilis ssp. paposoensis

(=C. humilis ssp. varispinata)

C. humilis ssp. paposoensis

(=C. humilis ssp. varispinata)

C. humilis ssp. paposoensis

(=C. humilis ssp. varispinata)

C. humilis ssp. esmeraldana

(=C. grandiflora ssp. ritteri)

C. humilis ssp. esmeraldana

(=C. grandiflora ssp. ritteri)

C. humilis ssp. esmeraldana

(=C. grandiflora ssp. ritteri)

These seedling pics of C. humilis ssp. humilis are courtesy of Ian N. (BCSS & CactiGuide)

This shows just how variable this specie can be.

Colors, spines and shapes are all quite different, yet all the same�

2 years old

taproot at 2 years old

All photos taken are from our personal collection or of our sales plants.

(Except where noted)

Plant of the Month Archives

June 2008 � Cylindropuntia bigelovii

July 2008 � Ferocactus cylindraceus var. cylindraceus

August 2008 � Echinocereus engelmannii

November 2008 � Pachypodium namaquanum

December 2008 � Copiapoa humilis ssp. humilis

All photos are property of CoronaCactus Nursery LLC.� (except where noted)�� 12-3-08