Xerophyte

Central Spines

1(-3), straight, pointing upward, to 3 cm long.

Seeds

1,5 x 1 mm dark brown to black.

Roots

It ha a swollen, often branched, tap-root.

Flowers

Yellow to reddish orange, often with caramel streaks, bell-shaped, apical, almost central, up to 2,5 cm long and in diameter.

Spines

Rigid, as long as the diameter of the plants, needle-like, yellowish, brownish or reddish black , often becoming black. Small stems spineless. Pericarpel and tube with scales but no hair or bristles (Like in the genus Gymnocalycium).

Ribs

6 to 10 (or up to 14 in culture), clearly divided into low, round-topped, indistinctly six-sided tubercles.

Stem

Almost spherical, grey-green with velvety appearance, green in culture, constricted at at neck, 3-7 cm high and 1-5 cm in diameter.

Radial Spines

6-8, somewhat shorter, stiff, spreading, to 2 cm long. Staminal throat-circle present.

Fruits

Globose to ovoid, brownish.

Areoles

Round, white about 1 cm apart.