Here is another view.

Mealy bugs!

Yikes! Mealy bugs indeed! That's quite the infestation you've got going there; it will be difficult to get rid of. First thing to do is isolate this plant from the rest right away. It's quite likely that it has spread to other plants, but you can keep them from getting as badly infested as this one. There's a wealth of information on here about dealing with these guys. For a plant as badly infested as the one in the photo, I would remove it from soil and go at it with a treatment solution and a paintbrush in the sink, to get in every crevice. You will need multiple treatments to get rid of all of them. Good luck!

I would use a systemic like imidacloprid granules and put on soil. I would use liquid imidacloprid with some dish soap to act as a surfactant because they are near impossible to wet with any kind of spray insecticide. You can also use rubbing alcohol as spray.

Bayer tree and shrub should be an easy to find source for imidacloprid. Economical, too. Comes in liquid and granule formulation.

-Ming