A tufted spiny succulent, 2-3 in. high; stems erect, 3/4-1 1/4 in. thick, usually 8-9-(sometimes 7-) angled, crowded, succulent, grass-green on the growing part, brown below; angles obtuse, subentire, about 1 lin. prominent, with broadly triangular grooves between them at the tips, becoming less prominent and the grooves flattened below; leaves rudimentary, 2/3-1 lin. long, shortly linear or linear-lanceolate, acute, fleshy, soon deciduous; spines (modified peduncles) solitary, 1/4-1/3 in. long, minutely puberulous and reddish or purplish when young, absent from some parts of the stems; involucres subsessile at the apex of the stems, campanulate, with spreading greenish-yellow glands.
Home