We drive along Ruta 5 from Copiapo and almost to Vallenar. We turn to highway 61 to Carrizal Bajo and make stops two times along the road about 40 and 50 kilometres from Ruta 5. There we see different forms of Copiapoa echinoides. As the name  indicates, the spination is hedgehog-like but the different forms have different length of spines and some of the plants have really long spines. We continue to Carrizal Bajo and there we soon experience that the mountain-slopes are covered with the longspined Copiapoa dealbata. These plants make gigantic groups with many heads which are several hundred years old!
When you find huge Copiapoas in an area you will often find a smaller growing species in the same area. Here we find a very small species named Copiapoa megarhiza ssp. echinata and as the name says - a species with swollen roots.