Copao

• Plant Type: Treelike cactus
• Common Names: Copao, Copao de Iquique
• Color: White, near white
• Flower Dimensions: 2.2-2.6 inches in length
• Flowering Seasons/Months: Late spring, early summer, mid-summer
• Desert with Copao: Atacama Desert

Eulychnia iquiquensis is treelike cactus of the Order Caryophyllales. It is endemic to the northern part of the Atacama Desert.

• Copao can grow up to a height of 3 meters. It is pretty spineless below, but Copao is spiny toward the top. The trunk of the Copao is generally short. It is multi-branched.
• The areolas of the Eulychnia iquiquensis are covered with white wool.
• The white flowers of the Eulychnia iquiquensis are made up of 7-14 petals. The flowers are near the tips of the shoots.
• The flower buds are globular and are covered with silky white hairs.
• The fruits of the Copao are spherical. They are covered with white wool.

• The genus name Eulychnia^[1] is derived from the Greek words (eu and lychnos). Its English translation is “beautiful lamp“.
• The iquiquensis epithet refers to the Copao plant’s location in Iquique.
• Copao can survive in temperatures up to 50 degrees Celcius. They are endemic to the driest desert in the World, the Atacama.
• The E. iquiquensis^[2] species has never been in cultivation and is known only from the original collection made by Carlos Reiche in 1904.
• Often, the Copao^[3] is born in arid zones where there is no rain for a long time, making it a very special Cactaceae.