As a group, the genus Copiapoa is one of the most remarkable in the cactus family. The genus is entirely endemic to the country of Chile, and it has radiated out into a number of species ranging from small single individual plants to enormous clumps with hundreds of heads. They are almost entirely coastal, and many are restricted to only one of a few populations, although they can be super-abundant at certain sites. One of the prettiest is Copiapoa cinerea, which has silvery gray stems and forms large clumps in the vicinity of the northern Chilean city of Taltal. This album highlights some of their beauty.

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A middle-sized clump of Copiapoa cinerea nestles up against a yellow-leaved shrub of some sort on the hills above Taltal, Chile.

The rugged rocky coast of Chile’s Pacific Ocean runs up against steep mountains in many areas. The cold waters of the Humboldt Current moving northwards from Antarctica lead to persistent fog and overcast, keeping the temperatures moderate and cool and humidity high year round. These same forces keep this otherwise subtropical latitude far cooler and drier than in most other spots, since cold stable air subsiding in the intertropical convergence zone suppresses storm formation and therefore rainfall. So while it is always foggy and cool here, rain is rare. This is what has created the Atacama Desert, in combination with the 20,000 foot massif of the Andes Mountains not far east of here which stops moisture from migrating over from the Amazon Basin and other Atlantic-influenced weather as well. Copiapoas are adapted specifically to this habitat and are vulnerable to extreme heat and cold and UV sunlight as a result, even in deserts that get more rainfall than here.

This photo shows the camanchaca, which is the Chilean Spanish word for the low cloud/fog layer that hangs out all along the immediate coastline and slightly inland most days of the year. The camanchaca can dissipate for a few hours in the afternoons most days as well, but usually re-forms around sunset and persists overnight and into the next morning until about noon. This is a very arid portion of the Chilean coast and the densest vegetation and greatest species diversity occurs where it comes into direct contact with the hills, as seen here. Lower down where it doesn’t usually form (below 1000 feet / 300 meters elevation) and farther inland (here, not much more than 15 to 20 miles / 20 to 30 km) vegetation is very sparse or utterly nonexistent. On our hike we began just above sea level with nearly zero plants, but as we climbed within only a mile or two much more had started to appear.

Copiapoa cinerea (not to be confused with the similarly named C. cinerascens found to the south) is covered in a dense white waxy layer, which helps protect the plants against water loss and reflects sunlight. This white wax is a consistently appealing feature of many of the larger Copiapoas, lending them an attractiveness and unique appearance that captivates many enthusiasts.

Juvenile Copiapoas are very pretty and make good potted subjects. They aren’t particularly difficult to grow under climate controlled conditions, but patience is required as even happy and vigorous seedlings are much slower than many other cactus species are. Plants this size may well be 15 to 20 years old at only a few inches in diameter in the wild, although they might reach this size in only 7 to 10 in captivity.

One of the most important “nurse plants” for seedling Copiapoas is the bromeliad known as Deuterocohnia chrysantha. Like many cacti, Copiapoa youngsters benefit from germinating and spending their first most vulnerable years near or inside the protective canopy of a larger plant such as a shrub or these bromeliads. The nurse plant provides shade from the sun, heat, and cold, and retains nutrition in decayed humus which also happens to hold moisture after rains. They can also hide the small cacti from consumption by herbivores such as rodents or beetles. While not strictly required for Copiapoas to reproduce, when Deuterocohnias decline it can make it decidedly more difficult for cactus seedlings to survive until they can make it on their own.

A large copper mine operates on the coast. Chile is the world’s largest producer of copper and has numerous operating mines nationwide.

Up in the camanchaca zone, beautiful pink lilies called añañuca rosada (Rhodophiala laeta) join the C. cinerea to create a delicate counterpoint of color and texture. Beauty and The Beast.

 

 

Alstroemeria violacea also makes an appearance here up in the fog zones.

As stated above, the camanchaca often does thin and retreat a bit during the mid afternoon hours, allowing for direct sunlight to hit the plants and enable more effective photosynthesis. But this direct sun also dries things out, so it’s not a cost-free bonus, ecologically speaking. While it is almost never outright hot here, rain is so rare that dryness is a huge limiting factor, and the fog does mitigate dryness even if it reduces photosynthetic efficiency.

The photo below shows how little vegetation lives at lower altitudes here. More can be seen towards the hilltops however where the fog is most common.

The most common and largest cactus cohort with C. cinerea is the columnar Eulychnia iquiquensis. Reaching up to 15 feet / 5 meters tall, these are the most prominent plants in this part of the Atacama.

I will take this opportunity to post this photo of a hummingbird (species unknown) perching on the Euphorbia lactiflua shrub near where the above photo was snapped. I only saw a handful of hummers on my Chilean trip and only got a couple of photos of this single one.

Copiapoas as a rule reach tremendous ages thanks to the sparse rainfall and infrequency of reproduction, which favors long-lived plants. The largest individuals must easily be 400 to 500 years old, and might be above that. They grow very little even in good years and spend decades as juveniles, so it’s easy to imagine them taking centuries to become 5 feet across with 100 stems or more, as some do.

I hope you enjoyed this photo tour of Copiapoa cinerea, one of the Atacama’s most beautiful cacti.