Xerophyte

Central Spines

1 or 2 up to long, terete, glassy white;

Seeds

Black and shining.

Description

Copiapoa cinereaSN|1380]]SN|1380]] is one of the most famous and admired species of cacti with chalky/white stems covered with wool at the apex, which contrasts well with the sparse, jet-black spines. Copiapoa cinereaSN|1380]]SN|1380]] var. albispina is a white spined form, quite unusual and rarely seen in cultivation. It is a solitary, or slowly offsetting, globular to columnar cactus.

Flowers

Yellow funnelform, 1,5 to 2,5 cm in diameter, occasionally with a pink or reddish tint. The Ovary is naked; it needs a lot of sunlight to bloom, so it's pretty rare to have blossoms when in cultivation in greenhouses.

Ribs

12-30 broad, obtuse.

Stem

Up to 1,2 m tall, 10-20 cm in diameter. In cultivation the white waxy bloom is often not produced, revealing a brownish epidermis.

Radial Spines

5-7.

Fruits

1,5 to 2 cm long.