Stems usually unbranched, green to bluish green, spheric, cylindric, or elongate-cylindric, 3-8.5(-15) × 4-10(-12) cm, glaucous; ribs 12-14(-15) tubercles evident on ribs. Spines slightly or not obscuring stems; radial spines 6-10(-14) per areole, white to tan (rarely black), 6-20 mm; central spines 3-4(-5) per areole, sometimes not greatly different from radial spines; abaxial central spines 0-2 per areole, pale tan, brown, reddish brown to black, straight and unhooked or curved (rarely hooked), 12-26 × 0.8-1 mm; lateral central spines 2-4 per areole, similar to abaxial; adaxial central spine usually white (rarely light brown), elliptic in cross section, 15-29 × 0.5-1.8 mm. Flowers fragrant, funnelform, 2-3.5(-5) × (2-)2.5-5 cm; outer tepals with brownish lavender midstripes and pink to violet margins, oblanceolate, 15(-30) × 30-50 mm; inner tepals pink or violet, oblanceolate to lanceolate, 17-25(-30) × 3-6 mm; filaments green to white; anthers yellow. Fruits not regularly dehiscent, ovoid, barrel-shaped, 9-25(-30) × 7-12 mm, with a few membranous scales, mostly near apex. Seeds black, 1.5 × 2.5 mm; cells convex but flattened apically.
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