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Copiapoa lauii f.
cristata
It is an interesting
crested form easily identified just by its small size, brown soft stems
covered with white, downy areoles and minute spines. It is the smallest
of the Copiapoa's and a very beautiful plant that will turn almost black
in direct light.
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Description:
Miniature
crested Copiapoa. It can eventually grow into a 10cm clump
Stem: Grey to dark red-brown-grey, sometimes greenish or almost
black. Line crest covered with whitish wool.
Ribs: Small tubercles in vertical rows.
Radials Spines: 4 to 7 insignificant whitish to yellowish.
Central spines: Absent.
Flower: yellow with reddish petal tips, short, wide
funnel-shaped.
Roots: large turnip-like
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Photo
and © copyright by
Robert Maijer (Holland) |
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Cultivation:
Cultivation: Need full sun to part sun, should
be protected from excessive heat and sun in summer. Needs deeper pot and
excellent drainage to accommodate the tap root.
Keep warm and dry in winter to avoid rot. It needs mild
heat in winter, avoid any frost.
Propagation: Stems planted
as cuttings. Grafting is often used to speed growth rate and to
create a back-up to plants in collection.
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Family:
Cactaceae (Cactus
Family)
Scientific name:
Copiapoa laui Diers
1980
Original Description Published in: Kakteen und anderen
Sukkulenten, 31(12):362
Forma cristata
NOTE: The species name is
frequently misspelled 'lauii' .
Origin:
Garden origin (Nursery
produced cultivar)
Conservation status: Listed in
CITES appendix 2.
Synonyms:
- Copiapoa hypogaea var. lauii
(Diers) A. Hoffmann comb.nov. 1989
Published in: Cactaceas en la flora silvestre de
Chile: 102-107 (1989)
Forma cristata
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The flowers are very nice too.
Photo of conspecific taxa,
varieties, forms and cultivars of
plants belonging to the Copiapoa hypogea
complex
(This
Taxon
has lots of synonyms
(
like many other cacti) whit several controversial varieties and subspecies
and comprises a multitude of different forms, but where each form
is linked to others by populations of plants with intermediate
characteristics):
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Cultivation
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