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Eriosyce  crispa
(Syn: Neoporteria crispa)

Eriosyce (Neoporteria) crispa FK65-77 Canta de Agua
Showy blooms, long thin black spines.
 

Buds

Tuberous roots

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 This plant often produces  a greyish-white waxy coating (Like the copiapoas) presumably to prevent dessication in it's extremely dry environment. In cultivation the white waxy bloom is often not produced, revealing the brownish/blackish epidermis.

Cultivation:  It is a summer grower species. Easy to cultivate but somewhat rot prone if kept in a non ventilated place. Require a very fast draining drying soil, water regularly in summer, but do not overwater.
Needs a full sun exposure (or light shade)  Good heat tolerance. Hardy to at least -5°C ( but probably can tolerate - 10° C for brief periods)

Propagation: Usually propagated from Seeds. (seldom produces offsets)

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Scientific name:  Eriosyce crispa (F. Ritter) F.

Origin: From Huasco to north of Totoral Bajo, Atacama, Chile.

Habitat: Coastal areas of South America, where it grows in areas where very little else grows. It's a very drought tolerant species. Despite the lack of rain where it lives, the extreme aridity is attenuated by the frequent, often dense, coastal fogs. The fog tends to concentrate in the form of a cloud band at an estimated height of 500 to 850 m. It shows a recurrent pattern; usually it is overcast in the early mornings, the clouds dissipating during the late morning and returning during the late afternoons. The plant grows often buried in the ground and is almost impossible to spot without the flowers.

Conservation status: Listed in CITES appendix 2.

Synonyms:

• Neporteria crispa
• Horridocactus crispus
• Pyrrhocactus crispus

Heterotypic synonyms:

• Neochilenia nigriscoparia Backeberg 1962, not validly pubblished
• Neoporteria vallenarensis var. crispa
• Pyrrhocactus atroviridis
• Horridocactus atroviridis
• Neoporteria atroviridis
• Pyrrhocactus huascensis
• Neoporteria huascensis
• Pyrrhocactus totoralensis F. Ritter 1961
• Neochilenia totoralensis (F. Ritter) Backeberg 1963
• Neoporteria totoralensis (F. Ritter) Donald & G.D. Rowley 1966
• Eriosyce crispa var. totoralensis (F. Ritter) Katterman 1994
• Pyrrhocactus carrizalensis F. Ritter 1963
• Horridocactus carrizalensis (F. Ritter) Backeberg 1963
• Neoporteria carrizalensis (F.Ritter) A.E. Hoffmann 1989
• Neoporteria totoralensis var. carizzalensis (F. Ritter) Kattermann 1994

Kattermann suggest the following classification:

subsp. crispa with hairlike, contorted black spines not easily distinguishable as radiald and centrals. (Origin West of Freirina)
subsp. atroviridis var. atroviridis with needle like and 12-14 radial spines (Origin Vallenar and Freirina)
subsp. atroviridis var. carrizalensis with stif needlelike spines, 12-13 radial spines and approx 15 ribs (Origin:Carrizal and Carrizal Bajo)
subsp. atroviridis var. huascensis With stiff, needle like spines, and few (6-8) radial spines and only 10-12 ribs. (Origin: East of Huasco)
subsp. atroviridis var. totoralensis with twisted spines and few ribs (Copiapo and Totoral Bajo)
 

Description: Flattened to slightly cylindrical cactus, slowly growing up to 10 cm in diameter.
Stem: Blackish, brownish or dark olive green,  often with a greyish-white waxy coating presumably to prevent dessication in it's extremely dry environment. In cultivation the white waxy bloom is often not produced, revealing the brownish/blakish epidermis.
Root: Tuberose roots often separated by a narrower neck.
Spines: Black or brown more or less curved upward & twisted that are not easily distinguished as centrals or radials, sometime bristly.
Central spines: 1-5, 15-80 mm long.
Radial spines: 6-14, 10-50 mm long.
Flowers: 3,5-5 cm long and broad, funnel-form, diurnal, produced by younger areoles at the woolly apex, the colour is whitish, pinkish or reddish with red/brownish midveins. Pericarpel and floral tube with bracts, wool and bristles.
Fruit: More or less elongated, pinkis-red deishing by basal pores.
 

Photo of conspecific taxa, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Eriosyce crispa complex (This Taxon has lots of synonyms  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):

• Eriosyce crispa
• Eriosyce atroviridis (E. crispa ssp. atroviridis var. atroviridis)

All the information and photos in cactus art file are now available also in the new the Enciclopedia of Cacti. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.