succulent, spineless; body of the plant buried in the ground, 3–6 in. long, 1 1/3–3 in. thick, cylindric or ovoid-cylindric, truncate at the top, with the central area covered with conical acute tubercles and the margin bearing a crown of 3–4 series of branches, glabrous, dull green; branches at first erect, finally radiately spreading, 1–3 1/2 in. long, 3–3 1/2 (or when dried 1–2) lin. thick, cylindric or slightly tapering to the apex, scarcely tuberculate, but marked by depressed lines into rhomboid or elongated areas 1 1/2–4 lin. long and 1–1 1/2 lin. broad, each bearing a leaf or leaf-scar close to the upper end, glabrous, green or dull purple where exposed to the sun; leaves 1–3 lin. long, linear or linear-lanceolate, acute, fleshy, spreading, glabrous, persisting for some time; peduncles usually numerous, solitary from the axils of the outer tubercles of the central area of the stem or from the youngest branches, 1–3 1/2 lin. long, bearing about 5 bracts and 1 involucre, glabrous; bracts 1–1 1/2 lin. long, oblong, ovate, obovate, or sub-orbicular, concave, submembranous, obtuse or acute, glabrous, ciliate; involucre 3–4 lin. in diam., broadly and rather shallowly cup-shaped, glabrous outside, with rather woolly stamens inside, with 5 glands and 5 transverse subrectangular toothed or ciliate lobes; glands separate or contiguous, deflexed-spreading, convex, often with a longitudinal groove from the upper margin, 3/4–1 1/2 lin. in their greater diam., suborbicular or transversely elliptic or elliptic-oblong, with 5–10 minute but distinct often recurved teeth on their outer margin and the inner margin entire or slightly notched, dull yellow; capsule sessile, 3–3 1/2 lin. in diam. and rather shorter than broad, obtusely 3-lobed, glabrous; styles united into a column, 1/2–1 lin. long, with broad cuneate spreading free or connate arms 1/3– 2/3 lin. long, 1/2– 3/4 lin. broad, entire, channelled down the middle; seeds 1 3/4 lin. long, elliptic-ovoid, acute at one end, truncate at the other, with a slight keel on each side and one down the back, slightly subreticulate-rugulose on the dorsal and nearly smooth on the ventral side. null
