Xerophyte

Habit

It is a tiny geophytic cactus rising barely above ground level (in habitat), usually solitary or sometime branching.

Seeds

Round black.

Roots

Fibrous, arising from a large taproot which is narrowed into a necks where joining the stems.

Flowers

Diurnal, 3-4 cm long and broad, closely packed apically from young areoles, funnel-form, the colour is creamy yellow to reddish often with red/brownish midveins. Pericarpel and floral tube with bracts, wool and sparsely bristly.

Blooming Season

Flowers are produced in early summer and remain open for about four days.

Spines

About 7 stiff, needle-like, straight or more or less curved and not easily distinguished as centrals or radials, creamy white, brown or black and darker at the tips, turning grey as they ages.

Ribs

About 12, noticeably tubercled with pronounced chinlike protrusions.

Stem

Spherical to somewhat clavate in cultivation, flattened at the apex, up to 8 cm tall (but usually less than 4 cm) and 4-5 cm in diameter, dull olive-green, dark maroon/mauve to blackish.

Fruits

Oval, to 1,5 cm long, red, fleshy, thin walled and splitting open at maturity by basal pores.

Areoles

Elongate, with yellowish or white felt.