Plant becomes very massive, up to at least four feet tall.
It grows about two feet in diameter. There are 13 to 25 ribs, and dense cluster of spines usually grow along the ribs, sometimes forming a cross in the center of the cluster. They are the part of the cactus which have not produced any flowers. Scattered all over the surface, usually aranged in rows or spirals in the most conspicuos places. Elliptic or linear.