Espostoa lanata f. crested (Crested)

The crested shape of this cactus has a very particular fan-shaped crest, it will never be the same in different plants making each of them unique in its kind and for this reason much appreciated by collectors. In the normal form it is a cactus with slow growth and a columnar posture that with time can branch in the upper part. Its stem, cylindrical and erect, is entirely covered by a thick whitish woolly mantle, from which come out sparse rigid and translucent spines of yellowish colour. Its funnel-shaped nocturnal blooms, which occur in late spring or early summer, have a considerable size and a coloring that can vary from white to purple.