BCSS - Forum

Seen with the light at a different angle.


[attachment 16908 Copiapoa_solaris4.jpg]

Last one.


[attachment 16909 Copiapoa_solaris5.jpg]

Yep, I'd be going with solaris until someone more learned corrects me... We saw similar plants just up the road for Botija - they are not as robustly spined as those solaris in the Botija valley, perhaps due to their greater exposure, but I believe they are still solaris. The C. atacamensis I did see, which were only small plants admittedly, don't seem to have the deeply furrowed ribs like solaris either.
Field identification is very tough, that's one thing I definitely learnt on my trip. The running joke then was that all Copiapoa are really just variations of one species which we referred to as "Copaipoa familiaris" !

Hi Trevor
Thats a good joke with a nugget of truth. Oddly on my notes I have solaris and then a line through it with atacamansis written above.....long day.

Yep, all solaris

Reviewing my pictures for this day, there are a few taken as 'scenic' shots through the van window I would like to share. First a couple taken between Taltal and Paposo that show that this coastline is by no means barren and in fact there are huge fields of Copiapoas, Eulychnias and other shrubby plants.


[attachment 16917 North_of_Taltal.jpg]

From a little further North.

[attachment 16918 North_of_Taltal2.jpg]

North of Paposo, things do become more barren, but the coastline is spectacular.


[attachment 16919 North_of_Paposo.jpg]

This is North of Blanco Encalada, before the track swings inland.


[attachment 16920 North_of_Paposo2.jpg]

As you would expect there is little sign of human habitation, but we saw occasional shacks like this one. Apparently they belong to hardy kelp gatherers. The kelp thrown onto the shore by the tide is an important crop used in the manufacture of natural thickening agents like agar. Every so often a truck passes to take the kelp and leave food and water for the gatherers.


[attachment 16921 kelp_gatherer.jpg]