Xerophyte

Habit

It is a globe-shaped to shortly columnar cactus densely covered by white-greyish, hair-like spines. The purple, tubular flowers project beyond the spines and present a most attractive appearance at flowering time.

Central Spines

Up to 4 stouter, pungent, up to 5 cm long, more or less subulate and thicker at the base, dark brown to black.

Flowers

Apical, dark crimson, up to 7 cm long and 2,5-3,5 cm broad, bilaterally symmetrical to nearly regular, limb scarcely oblique, with a long slender tube; scales on ovary and tube few, small, ovate, naked in their axil. The segments acute, purplish crimson. Filaments bright carmine, anthers yellow. Style bright carmine, stigma-lobes greenish.

Spines

Variable, white to pale brown, grey with age.

Ribs

About 23, tuberculate.

Stem

Generally single but occasionally many-stemmed, globular to shortly cylindrical, 8-10 cm in diameter, up to 30 cm high, green, densely covered and almost invisible under the numerous spines.

Radial Spines

Numerous 1,5 cm long more or less pectinate, weak, bristly, glassy white to yellowish brown.

Fruits

Small, spherical to club shaped light reddish-green about 1 cm in length.

Areoles

Set closely together, with an abundance of wool when young, but without any when old.