Habitat is dry, gravely desert slopes, often under bushes below 4,500 feet. Best with good drainage Low and cylindrical, growing to less than 4 inches in cultivation. Many hooked spines. Propagation by seed is slow, so is often grafted onto other stock. Rubercles conical or slightly oval.
Axils lack hairs and bristles.
20 to 30 spines on each areole, slender and white or yellow with brown tips. Bright, composed of many petals. One or two local varieties in Arizona that have golden-yellow central spines, or brown hooked spines. Not to be confused with the fishhook barrel cactus of the Chihuahuan Desert.