Copiapoa humilis subsp. longispina (Ritter)
Doweld Sukkulenty 4(1-2): 49 (2002)
Basionym:
C.
longispina
Ritter,
Taxon
Vol XII No. 1:
31(1963)
T his is once again a Ritter discovery that he
described as
C.
longispina
soon after he
found it in 1963. It hails from a most unlikely habitat for a
Copiapoa;
in high mountains to the south of the city of Copiapó. This area
is well inland from the ocean and must receive only a little
moisture from the coastal mists. However, this region is far
enough south to benefit from a little annual winter rainfall. We
searched for this plant at the type locality and found it growing
on steep, fairly barren slopes, growing in rock cracks. When at
the habitat in November 2002 I observed that the plants were not making
any effort to grow or flower and appeared to be quite dormant.
Figure 14 Habitat
of Copiapoa humilis subsp. longispina, south of
Copiapo
I n appearance
C.
humilis subsp.
longispina is very similar to
C.
humilis subsp.
humilis
but is much more spiny, particularly in older and
larger plants. This may be due in part to the drier environment.
The majority of specimens were single headed, with just the
occasional multi-headed plant in evidence. The body is a dark
colour, almost black, with a light, waxy grey coating, reaching
10cm in diameter, with white wool in the apex. The tubercles are
rounded and large, to approximately 10mm across. The plants did
not appear to be suffering from guanaco or insect larval attacks
and juvenile heads on individuals were not common.
Figure 15 Copiapoa humilis subsp. longispina
PH469.03
(south of Copiapo) strongly spined plants but otherwise very similar
to Copiapoa humilis subsp. humilis, growing some 300km
further south
T he spines are
much stronger than the type, with radials to 20mm long, 7-9 in
number, and centrals up to 50mm long. The root is large and
tuberous, connected to the body by a thin neck. Although very
similar to
C. humilis
subsp.
humilis
I
believe it is appropriate to afford it the rank of subspecies due
to its small and extremely disjunct habitat. It has adapted to
grow in a drier environment, with stronger spination, more waxy
epidermis, and is less freely offsetting. Ritter also reported
that it has seeds larger than the type. This taxon has not been
found by many people and documented material in cultivation is
scarce. However, Ritter also reported a population from north of
Copiapo and recently Paul Klaassen (pers. comm.) has reported
seeing plants with an affinity to
Copiapoa humilis
in the hills near
Caldera, which could also be this taxon.
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