Along the coast of the Atacama Desert, Eulychnia castanea grows alongside some of Chile’s better-known cacti like Copiapoa, surviving on little more than a rain event every few years and the thick daily fog known locally as the camanchaca. Before dissipating midday, this fog can be dense enough to saturate the upper layer of the acidic granite substrate, providing just enough moisture for growth. In nature, this species differs from its more upright relatives and is sprawling in habit, sending out long, drooping stems armed with golden spines that often weave between the grey boulders, forming an impenetrable thicket. The plants offered here are the spiral form, a novel and naturally occurring mutation in which each segment swells into a distinct ring, at times stacking neatly and at others winding upward in a tight twist. This form has been in cultivation for years, but never common and never losing its appeal. One reason for that may be the time it takes to mature, visible in the corking and scars of older plants which show their many seasons of slow growth. You will recieve the plant pictured.
