Xerophyte

Habit

It is a small, low growing cactus that grows solitary or sometime in groups.

Central Spines

1 to 3, dark, frequently reddish; the upper spine usually attains a length of 3 cm and is usually not hooked and thickened basally (but sometime the longest of them may reach the length of 4-6 cm).

Roots

Thick taproot.

Flowers

Arising from the basal tubercles on the side of the plant, up to 7 cm wide, typically pale to dark golden-yellow, (but also happening on shades of orange or red). All of them have in common that the hymen (or throat ring of the flower) is always of a very dark purple-violet to black, thickened at the edge and glossy. The stamens are purple, the anthers yellow.

Spines

Of different length, usually straight not hooked, directed upward, dark brown to blackish in youth, later grey.

Ribs

10-14, compressed, running downward and divided into slanting tubercles whose arrangement creates the impression of a wavy line.

Stem

Soft, about 5 to 7 cm across, bluish-green, gray-green to dark green, at first spherical, egg-shaped, then elongate as they ages. The crown is slightly depressed and covered with whitish wool

Radial Spines

Approximately 10 or less, about 1 cm long.

Areoles

3 mm across, with grey-white felt.