Xerophyte

Seeds

Large (2-2.5 × 3-4 mm), dark. Testa with rounded papillae.

Flowers

Bell to funnel shaped, 2-4 cm long, 1.5-3 cm in diameter. Outer perianth segments with reddish brown midstripes and violet-pink or reddish purple margins, usually oblanceolate, 15-20mm long, 6-10 mm wide, margins irregularly toothed, apex mucronate. Inner perianth segments violet-pink or reddish purple, oblanceolate to narrowly oblanceolate, 15-20 × 4-6 mm, apex minutely toothed, surrounded by several hundred bright yellow anthers. Filaments violet-pink or reddish purple. Styles minutely and sparsely papillate.

Blooming Season

Its flowers open in the warm afternoon sun of spring ( Apr-May). Fruits mature as summer arrives.

Spines

Dense but not obscuring stems. Usually in clusters, with (1-)3-6(-7) central spines, terete to angled, pubescent in young and early reproductive plants. 1-3 lower central spines tan to brown, reddish, or black, irregularly or strongly hooked. Lateral spines (0-)2(-4) per areole, white, tan, red, or reddish brown, usually hooked, sometimes flattened, flexible and ribbon-like, 10-40 mm long. Upper spine, one per areole, tipped white or dark, flattened and ribbonlike, (5-)35-60(-70) long and 1.5-2.5(-3.5) mm wide.

Stem

3-15 cm tall, 2-8 cm wide, green to dark green, ovoid or cylindrical(sometimes narrowly so), solitary or a few clumped together. The largest plants are round above the ground but small plants during the dry season are flat and almost completely retracted to the ground. Ribs (6-)13(-14), tubercles prominent on ribs.

Fruits

Small barrel-shaped to cylindrical 9-15 mm long, 8-13 mm wide, at the summit of the stems, amid the tangle of spines. Dry, green to pink or pale red, dehiscent along 2-4 vertical splits. Scales few, membranous.