Clustering, body globular, to 5 cm wide. Tubercles obscure. Axils bare or slightly woolly. Central spines 12, intergrading with 35-60 radial spines, 7-10 mm long, whitish or yellowish and bristle-like. Flowers pink.

EC Mexico

Hunt distinguishes forma lauii, forma dasyacantha and forma subducta.

Source: Thompson, A, ; Forbes, S.; Spencer, R. (1997). Cactaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.