Open Diegan Sage Scrub on xeric hillsides is the preferred habitat for this prostrate to suberect cane type cactus. Ferocactus viridescens , Mammillaria dioica , and Simmondsia chinensis may grow with this species. Soils include Huerhuero loam in Otay Valley, Gaviota fine sandy loam on Point Loma, and Redding cobbly loam in Balboa Park. Scattered shrubs are found growing from Florida Canyon in Balboa Park to the Mexican border.
Population densities are typically small.
A good population is found on a hillside south of the Lower Otay camping area. An excellent population grows on the Subase at Point Loma, south of McClelland Road. Significant colonies are found on the northern slopes and bluffs of Poggi Canyon, and nearby close to Lynndale Lane in Chula Vista. Old biological survey reports note sites near Dillon Road on Otay Mesa, at the Otay Landfill, in Moody Canyon on Otay Mesa, near Glen Abbey Memorial Park in Bonita, and in Telegraph Canyon. Data Base reports are from several locales in Rice Canyon in Chula Vista, near San Ysidro, south of Otay Mesa Road and north of Moody Canyon, on a south-facing bank of Chollas Creek adjacent to Fairmont Avenue, and both 1.0 and 1.3 miles east of Rock Mountain in Otay Valley.