Xerophyte

Central Spines

Absent.

Seeds

Black helmet-shaped.

Cephalium

Up to 2 cm high and 2.5-4.5 cm in diameter, with creamy white hairs and small brownish or reddish spine-like bristles along the the margin..

Derivation of Name

Griseus Latin, Grey, for the grey-green colour of the body.

Flowers

About 5.5 cm long and 4.5 cm in diameter, white, naked. The position if the stigma is half-way up the secondary stamens.

Ribs

9-11 vertical.

Stem

Single, flattened spherical, up to 4 cm high (without cephalium), but often taller in cultivation (up to 7 cm), 12-14 cm in diameter, blue-green to grey-green.

Radial Spines

6-10, ivory to grey, with a light brown/red tip, progressively longer from top to bottom of the areole, of which 3-5 stout up to 2 mm in diameter, one of them (the lowermost) to 25(-35) mm long, bent downwards, two to four of them to 15(-30) mm long, pointing sidewards, the uppermost (if present) are usually shorter (ca. 5 mm), also directed to the sides and upward. All spines are slightly bent to the plant.

Fruits

Brownish-reddish, pinkish-white or white.

Areoles

Oval, to 2.5 cm apart, at first with cream hairs, then bare. Number of areoles per rib is 6-8 on plants with cephalium.