Shrub to 1 m tall, 1 m wide; pads circular, glabrous, gray-green with purple in edges, 5-7 series of areoles, spines 0-1 in upper edge, acicular, terete in cross section, white with the apex amber, 2-3.5 cm long. Fruits oblong to barrel shaped, tuberculate, the areoles prominent, glochids dark yellow, 3-4 mm long, with 0-1 spines.