The name is simulans, it is a Ritter name he published in the 1960's. It is so named because it "simulates" the local Copiapoa it often grows among, since when out of flower they are often difficult to tell apart. However when in flower E. simulans has wool and bristles on the flower tube and usually reddish flowers, but there are yellow flowered ones in the population. Copiapoa however has a naked tubed flower as does Gymnocalycium and the flowers are yellow in most Copiapoa's, even if reddish on the outside. However there is one red flowered Copiapoa..
Here is an E. simulans I photographed in Chile last year.
- simulans.jpg (110.39 KiB) Viewed 4625 times
Also see:-
http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACT ... e_simulans" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
](./images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
I was going crazy looking for Eriosyce simulans here, and found it under Eriosyce heinrichiana subsp. simularis. Is it really simuaris or should be simulans? Hey, the site is great and I love it and I know how hard it is to keep things straight...