Original Publication

Copiapoa krainziana  Ritter 1963, Taxon 12(1):29 and

Copiapoa scopulina Ritter n.n. - in the H. Winter Catalogue of 1957 FR 209 and subsequently formally described as Copiapoa krainziana var. scopulina Ritter, 1963, Taxon 12(1):30

Original Description

Copiapoa krainziana Ritter, sp. nova, corpora viridi-grisea, apice griseo-lanata, ra­dice havd rapacea, caespites ad 1 m formantia; costae 13-24, 15 mm altae, leviter crena­tae; areolis griseis, 3-6 mm diam., 7 mm inter se remotis; spinae patulae, tenues, radiales 10-12, 1-2 cm longae, centrales 14-20, 2-3 cm longae; flores 3-3,5 cm longi; ovarium esqua­matum vel subesquamatum; tubus floralis infundibuliformis, 9-12 mm longus; tepala 13-16 mm longa, 4-7 mm lata, lutea; camera nectarifera 2-3 mm longa, aurea; stamina omnino tubo florali inserta; stigmata 7-9, aurea; fructus albus vel roseus, supeme dehis­cens; semina 1,6 mm longa, 1,3 mm lata, laete viridia, hilo brunneo.

Habitat:  Berge an der Küste im Dept. Taltal, Nord-Chile. Holotypus seit 1954 in der Städtischen Sukkulentensammlung, Zürich, Schweiz.

var. krainziana, valde proliferans; corpus 6-12 cm diam.; spinae molles, plerumque curvatae, albae vel griseae.

var. scopulina Ritter, var. nova, paulo proliferans; corpus ad 20 cm diam.; spinae rigidae, rectae, brunneae vel nigrae, radiales aciculares, centrales subulatae.

Gesammelt als FR 209 und erwähnt in Kat. H. Winter, 1957, 14, als C. scopulina

Distribution

References in Literature

PK Comments

During Copiapoathons 2001, 2003 and 2004 I visited 3 different concentrations of Copiapoa krainziana, all in - or on the hills around - the Quebrada San Ramon. It is not clear if these form one population or if any small differences in their appearance are due to environmental factors. In most cases these temporarily replaced Copiapoa cinerea subsp. haseltoniana ( incl. C. tenebrosa) and at others they grow alongside C. taltalensis (C. rupestris). We formed the impression that this is (another) variable taxon, growing in a Quebrada that has become a natural genetic melting pot for Copiapoa.

I noted their thin and brittle spines as the constant feature, irrespective of their colour. The herbarium sample for Ritter's C. krainziana var scopulina held at Utrecht (below), shows spines that are much more robust than those I observed on any C. krainziana. The sample, illustrated below is reported as a natural hybrid between C. krainziana and C. cinerea, but would seem to fit better with plants that we recorded as C. rupestris (now C. taltalensis) 

Some C. krainziana showed the yellow / orange spination around the apex that I see as 'the haseltoniana factor' in Copiapoa around Taltal.

Benjy Oliver comments on the 'squidgy' (soft bodied) nature of young C. krainziana in UK cultivation - a feature usually associated with members of the Humilis complex.

Copiapoa krainziana var. scopulina Ritter 1963

Original Description

Ritter 1963, Taxon 12(1):29

var. scopulina Ritter, var. nova, paulo proliferans; corpus ad 20 cm diam.; spinae rigidae, rectae, brunneae vel nigrae, radiales aciculares, centrales subulatae.

Gesammelt als FR 209 und erwähnt in Kat. H. Winter, 1957, 14, als C. scopulina.