''Copiapoa marginata'' is a species of clump-forming

cactus A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. It is native to the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barre ...

in northern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Description

''Copiapoa marginata'' grows to a height of up to . The plant bears long yellow flowers in spring and summer.

Subspecies and varieties

* ''Copiapoa marginata'' var. ''bridgesii'' * ''Copiapoa marginata'' subsp. ''robustispina''.

References

* * Cactoideae Cacti of South America Endemic flora of Chile Flora of northern Chile Atacama Desert Near threatened flora of South America {{Cactus-stub