Copiapoa tocopillana LAU 806

This cactacea was found for the first time by the collector Alfred Bernhard Lau near Tocopilla (Antofagasta, Chile) in 1971. It is a rare plant which is highly appreciated and sought after by green collectors. It is a globose cactus of an opaque greyish-green color, it has multiple protuberances, on which large oval, downy white areoles sprout. It is equipped with dense thin blackish-gray spines, which tend to completely envelop the body. Its funnel-shaped inflorescences are of a lemon yellow color, endowed with a silky sheen.