Xerophyte

Central Spines

4 to 8, occasionally up to 16, stronger, up to 4 cm long,straight or recurved and spreading, often darker at the tips..

Note

This species as many (very controversial) varieties.

Flowers

Pretty relatively small, tubular, up to about 3-5 cm long, bi-coloured with carmine petal tips and pinkish-white, white or yellowish-white throat, giving the sensation of being fluorescent and being very difficult to photograph in good conditions because that particularity. Inner tepals erect, acute, concealing the stamens.

Blooming Season

Blooms early in late winter to spring. It is advisable to leave them dry from middle of November to obtain fantastic flowering later in January/March.

Spines

Partially hiding the ribs, needle like, more or less long and dense, white, yellowish, golden yellow, brown, or nearly black, while older one became greyish.

Ribs

(11-)16-20(-22) more or less notched with chinlike protrusions.

Stem

Solitary mostly globular, up to 90 cm tall (or more), up to 10 cm wide. Grey-green, yellowish-green, brownish-green or blackish-green.

Radial Spines

(8-)16-24(-40), 1-2(-3) cm long, radiating.

Fruits

Ovoid to cylindrical, 1,5-2 cm long, 1 cm in diameter, red or reddish-green partly hollow at maturity, only scarcely woolly, apical areoles not spinescent.

Areoles

Large and woolly.