BCSS - Forum

I bought this plant a while ago, and now that I've finally begun fixing up my plantlist/database I have issues with it's name.
I don't seem to find a lot of information on Copiapoa crucicentra? Is it an actual species, spelling mistake, ...

Not a valid name. Maybe a Knize deviant from a type of something.
I'd just be guessing.
Is a good looking one though. Nice grey skin and cool spines.
Ok. desertorum.
That's my first of 5 guesses.

Having checked my collection I can't find anything that very closely resembles that interesting plant. The nearest thing I have that has distinctly upswept spines is this old Copiapoa sp. PM 203 (probably C.Rupestris). This plant had a growth check for some years but has now started growing again. Offsets are forming.

Seems to be a name going around on the Web:-

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/OW ... 2wttBi_8GQ

http://www.cactus-succulentes.fr/Copiap ... tra%20.jpg

Can't find any reference to the original source of the name though.

late reply because I went on holiday.

Thanks for the effort guys, it seems like it'll remain a question mark for now.

Peter wrote:Having checked my collection I can't find anything that very closely resembles that interesting plant. The nearest thing I have that has distinctly upswept spines is this old Copiapoa sp. PM 203 (probably C.Rupestris). This plant had a growth check for some years but has now started growing again. Offsets are forming.

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Nice plant Peter. One of Preston-Mafham's 1987 habitat seed sowings?

Hi Ross,

It's certainly a Preston-Mafham plant, obtained from Bill Greenaway around 2005, before Bill moved to France. I suppose it could be from a 1987 sowing. It's a fairly large plant though and I had thought that it was older. Anyway, it's finally got used to living in Shropshire and has started to motor (if Copiapoas know how to motor, that is).

Well done for identifying it!

I remember buying loads of those Preston-Mafham seedlings grown from habitat seed sometime in the eighties, you as well Ross? I don't think that they distributed any before then.

I visited Ken Preston-Mafham's collection in 1987 or 1988. He had a lot of seedlings grown from his PM collected seed, which I recall him saying were sown a couple of years previous. So I guess they were sown 1986/87. As far as I'm aware, they were from his first (and only?) seed collecting trip to S. America. I dare say there were subsequent sowings over the following years prior to his collection being broken up and sold.

Looking through his "500 Cacti" book, he lists (page 57) PM203 as being C. rupestris, grown from seed collected in the Quebranda San Ramon, Tatal, Chile.

Yes Nick, I did buy a number of seedlings at the time but regrettably no longer have them. Recalling the visit, I must look out my old slides