lt must have been 1965 when I started to collect cacti actively and it took me about 15 months to acquire about forty Neoporterias and about twenty Copiapoas. These were all young plants and at that time I had never even seen a plant of either of these genera in flower anywhere. I did have a few duplicates, but some of those with similar labels appeared to me to be quite different species, and others with different labels seemed to be very similar looking plants. Quite a few plants were purchased as grafts but I aim to get them on to their own roots fairly promptly.

In 1967 I began to acquire the odd imported plant and I also had a visit to Holland that year. The exiting part of the trip was the visit to Wouters (it took me an hour to find his place - I got to the nursery just across the road and I did not find anything of interest to me there and nearly gave up for the day). We spent some time looking at his collection - did I know Copiapoa this? or Copiapoa that? Just a minute, this is what it looks like in flower! I came away with a number of grafted plants - all excellent stuff.

There were by now only about 18 or so described Copiapoa species that I did not have and I came to the conclusion that there was so much confusion over the species names that my best policy was to collect and grow the plants until I had sufficient material of reasonable age. Certainly the plants grew well - indeed they might even be described as positively exploding! Having obtained the loan of Volumes III and VI of Backeberg‘s Die Cactaceae, I set about translating the descriptions of all the Copiapoas. From this I found that several of my plants either matched Backeberg‘s description or appeared to be identical with his illustration of a species, but carried a different label. I even began to find one or two of the named plants which I had obtained from Wouters differed from the official description or from imported plants.

I took a look at seed under the microscope from half a dozen different species of Copiapoa and found them to be all “much of a muchness“. They are all the same shape, all somewhat laterally flattened, all have a keel that does not run the whole height of the seed, and all possess the same shape of hilum in a similar plane. The micropyle seems to be at the end of the hilum and sometimes has a rim round it and sometimes it is not well defined. The surface of the testa is tuberculated. They differ one from another slightly in that the tubercles or humps are more or less prominent, the keel varies in its acuteness, and so on. But I would not like to have to distinguish any one of these species from any other on the basis of the seeds alone. 

Early in 1970 I was able to pay a visit to the Isle of Wight to see a consignment of plants that Sargant had just received from Chile. I must say that seeing all those imported plants definitely helped forward my appreciation of this genus. I purchased one of this, and one of that, and when I had spent rather more than I had intended to, I called it a day. One of those plants was a shriveled looking C. olivana from “North of Paposo“. This name was a new one to me. A couple of months later I went up to see the plants Hallett had for sale in Anglesey and was quite pleased with my purchases from there, too. After that visit I finally got down to a distribution map of Copiapoa species which Harry Middleditch had been egging me on to do and quickly found it of inestimable value. Some species which I had felt were similar, proved to come from places quite close to each other.

During the summer, this plant of C. olivana plumped up a bit and started to resemble a “dumetorum“ which had arrived from Uhlig at about the same time, and during the summer I obtained two further collected plants under this name. I also had to acquire an extension to nearly double the size of my greenhouse as every available inch of space where a pot could stand was occupied, including the floor. When I had the full 25ft. length available I picked up pots from the floor etc., and spaced everything out and the whole greenhouse was full again.

But now I could see everything easily, I could put like with like, which produced surprising food for thought. By this time quite a number of my Copiapoas were now flowering and at the end of 1970 my C. olivana put out its first flower. The bud was quite red - as usual with many Copiapoas - but when the flower is open it is pale yellow and rather large - some 4.5 cm in diameter. The following year all three plants of C. olivana were in flower in April and the flowers were so large that I put a ruler across and two of them measured exactly 50mm diameter. My wife measured another olivana flower while I was at work and made the same diameter. I seem to remember measuring a montana flower about that time, that was even bigger! So Copiapoas can have big flowers.

By 1973, these three plants of C. olivana had grown a little more and were in flower from early May throughout the summer. These plants have a colossal flower for a Copiapoa, getting on for 7Omm in diameter. I had still seen nothing in print about these plants, which I had now come to regard as indistinguishable from plants from two different sources that I had labeled “grandiflora“. These two plants of C. grandiflora had not yet produced any flowers.

Both my C. grandifloras were acquired in 1967. One of them came from Bulthuis, a small grafted plant, one solitary head which measured only 1½“ across the spines. This was degrafted in April 1971 and quickly established itself on its own roots. After a couple of year‘s growth it had produced several offsets and occupied a 5” pot. Since then I have removed a number of the offsets and rooted them up. The other plant was bought from Uplands nursery under the name of C. cupreata; I believe that it was from the George collection (from near Ron Ginns) who grew it from Winter‘s seed, and Uplands purchased that complete collection. When I bought this plant it was 3” in diameter and 1 ½” high, on its own roots, with one offset. By the September of that year it had three or four offsets. I stripped off all the offsets in 1968 but by August 1971 it was back to 8 offsets again and occupying a 6“ pot. Despite the label, I was pretty certain from the appearance of this plant that it was a C. grandiflora.

The evidence for these two plants really being C. grandiflora was strengthened when the two of them both flowered in May 1974 and both had large flowers for Copiapoas. The flower on the offset from the original Uplands plant opened out to 60mm diameter and the other - the ex-Bulthuis plant - made 50mm across. Unfortunately my film ran out in the camera and I bought another one only just in time to catch the flower before it expired.

Now we have moved down to Devon I am convinced that the air is cleaner than on the outskirts of London and it seems to suit my plants; but I shall probably have to shade in summer to avoid scorching the Copiapoas.

Both the plants of Copiapoa grandiflora have responded by flowering again this year. I see Ritter, in his description of Copiapoa grandiflora. says that it comes from Esmeralda. Whereabouts is this place? I cannot find it on my maps on Chile.

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Comments on C. grandiflora
.... from H. Mlddleditch

Both these plants of C. grandiflora were on the speaker‘s table at our 1975 Brooksby weekend. The ex-Bulthuis plant had a purplish tinge to the green epidermis, perhaps reddish-purple in parts; the ribs were quite narrow at the peak and markedly depressed in between the areoles. The other plant (presumably ex-Winter‘s seed) had a fainter reddish-brown tinge to the green epidermis, again with the ribs coming to a narrow peak, but less depressed between areoles and with a faint suggestion of a chin above the areole. Alongside these two plants was a plant with two labels - C. krainziana var. scopulina and C. grandiflora. The body of this plant had a very rich purple colour indeed.

The port or fishing hamlet of Esmeralda appears on my 1; 1,000.000 map of Chile roughly half way between Chañaral and Taltal.

.... from R. Moreton

The two-labeled plant which I brought along to Brooksby was bought as a seedling from Roanoke many years ago now. 

.... from E.W. Bentley

Yes, I have now managed to locate Esmeralda, a tiny port of that name which lies a few miles south of Cifunchos.

.... from I. Le Page. (C.l.)

I am quite familiar with a plant of C. grandiflora which is not in my own collection, which was originally obtained from the Dutch nursery of Edelman. It was brought into the island by a local collector, a Mr. Wilson who used to import a considerable number of plants for his extensive collection during the early 1950‘s; it was acquired by my stepfather about that time so this makes it in excess of 20 years old. I suppose that it is just possible it is a Ritter collection as he was extremely active at that time.

This plant formed nine offsets round the base and grew to occupy a 6“ pan, although it is hard to see any growth at all on the main body. Any increase in size seems to be concentrated on the offsets. The body is a dully grey­green, with 11 ribs; the areoles are large, furnished with white wool; there are 3-4 central spines, 3.75cm long, slim, brownish going grey with age, radials 2cm long. As far as the owner of the plan can recall, it has flowered for the past five years, usually about July. In early July this year I noticed that it had two large buds which would clearly be open within a few days. The plan had obviously flowered earlier in the season as there were the dried remains of four flowers.

I borrowed the plant and took it home and put it in a sunny part of the greenhouse. The flowers opened together on July 11th, a hot sunny day; they remained open for two days and when fully open measured 6.5cm across and 2.5cm high.

From the enclosed slide (now in the slide library - H.M.) you will see the flower quite well. The outer petals had a reddish tinge running through the centre - just visible lower left of the slide. The petals were a satiny lemon. The stamens were inserted in two series, one set being about 13 mm long clustered tightly around the style and of fairly even length. The others were much longer, often irregular in length and wide spreading; the average length of these was approx. 20mm; they were all lemon yellow colour. The style was just over 20mm long and carried 15 stigma lobes nearly 3mm long, also yellow but slightly darker.

.... from A.F.H. Buining

I can tell you that my wife and I had the privilege of making the trip through Chile and the southern part of Peru together with Ritter. Since most of the published Copiapoas come from Ritter, I know that we were in the right habitats. I am satisfied that I made notes in my diary every evening on what we bad seen that day, so it is almost impossible that my notes are incorrect.  

As far as C. grandiflora is concerned, we went from the campsite (not a campsite as in Europe, but we slept in the car) near the sea north of Chañaral, where C. cinerascens grows. Going further north of Chañaral, not along the normal highroad, we lost our way until we found C. columna alba. Then Ritter knew where we were. Halfway between Chañaral and Taltal there is a small village on the coast called Caleta Esmeralda. Going there we passed a deserted goldmine and on top of a small mountain we found C. longistaminea and C. grandiflora, somewhat to the east of Esmeralda. And quite high above Taltal grow large groups of C. krainziana. Of all these habitats I have colour slides.

You must know that it is often quite dangerous to give the exact habitat of rare plants, for soon traders in cacti go often to these places and simply take all the plants they find. As soon as somebody starts in the trading business, he simply has to find the asked-for plants. This is why I did not mention in my article where these plants grew exactly. I think it would be better please not to publish these exact habitats for then those plants might come into danger.

.... from A. Gray

When I purchased a Copiapoa grandiflora in 1967 it just about filled a 3½“ pot and I believe it to have been grown from seed. Unfortunately it got rather badly scorched shortly after purchase and it took about 4 years to put on sufficient growth to be able to consider cutting off the top section and try for a tidy plant again. Having cut off the top, it then took a whole season to re-root and get re-established. Since then it has grown quite steadily and this year was repotted into a 5” pot and is now about 11cm diameter and 8cm high.

I had been inclined to think that this plant was a rather shy flowerer, but this last summer it sent out three flowers and of these, two have set fruit. I did make attempts at hand pollination, although I did not take precautions to prevent insect pollination, so the seed may well by hybrid. My recollections about the flower are unfortunately hazy but I recall thinking at the time that it had no particular claim to the title “grandiflora“, if this is to be understood as something larger than usual for the genus, but it seemed quite comparable to C. montana.

As yet it has only sent out one offset. The plant body is a rather muddy green colour, with a whitish bloom on the lower part of the plant. Rib count is 12, radial spines 7-8 with 1 central spine. The spines generally are slender and pale, clustering in the centre when new, very much as per the illustration from I. Le Page.

.... from R. Ferryman

Copiapoa grandiflora flowers quite regularly for me. Last year I had three flowers, each a good 70mm across. The first two set seed and there were probably in excess of 400 seeds from the two pods. The third flower shriveled in January and only produced about a dozen seeds. All three pods were deeply encased in the centre of the plant, each pod 10mm high, width 100mm at the top to 3mm at the base plus 30mm of flower remains. This plant is now offsetting.