Dwarf succulent forming a dense clump up to 300 mm diam. or more. Stems 15-60(-200) mm long, 8-20 mm thick (excluding teeth), erect to decumbent, grey-green to purplish; tubercles 3-6 mm long, spreading, deltoid, laterally flattened towards base and joined into (4-)5(-6) angles often spirally twisted along stem, tapering into stout hard acute yellowish tooth slightly flattened above. Inflorescence of 3-20 flowers developing in quick succession (often 2-3 open together), arising from short sometimes branched broad peduncle (3-25 mm long) with lanceolate bracts 2-5 mm long; pedicel 5-25 mm long, 1.5-2.0 mm thick, spreading to ascending, holding flower facing upwards or horizontally; sepals 3-8 mm long, 1.5 mm broad at base, ovate, acuminate, somewhat recurved towards apex. Corolla (20-)25-30(-40) mm diam., campanulate to rotate with cupular tube in centre; outside smooth, pale brown to flesh-coloured or green usually with 1-5 raised longitudinal veins running down centre of lobe; inside pale cream to white (sometimes faintly pinkish or greenish towards edges of lobes), with narrow often concentric pentagonal maroon lines in and around mouth of tube (rarely on lobes) shortening to elongated spots in tube and coalescing into irregularly pentagonal purple-red patch around corona, covered with obtuse conical slightly dorsiventrally flattened whitish papillae (most prominent around mouth of tube where reaching 1 mm long, becoming shorter on lobes and ending abruptly just inside mouth of tube) with fine dark maroon apical bristle up to 1 mm long; tube 6-9 mm long, 7-10 mm broad at mouth, cupular and slightly pentagonal, often somewhat constricted at mouth; lobes 7-11 mm long, 10-15 mm broad at base, spreading, with apices slightly recurved, deltate, acute. Corona 4-6 mm tall, 3.0-5.5 mm broad, without basal stipe; outer lobes 1-2 mm long, divided into deltoid lobules near apex to truncate and subquadrate, pale yellow suffused with pink and with maroon patch near base; inner lobes 1.0-1.5 mm long, bright yellow, below adpressed to backs of anthers and somewhat dorsiventrally flattened and broadened into transversely slightly gibbous base, above connivent-erect tapering slightly to obtuse slightly bristly often reddish apex.
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