Leafless fat-stemmed succulent 50-80 cm in height, with fleshy, ribbed and thorny stems arising from a common base. It will form large group up to 2 m in diameter (but usually much smaller).
The variety name ''pilifera'' means having flexible hair-like spines (from Latin ''pilus'' hair). This species appears to be quite variable regarding the colour of flowers and the shape of stems in different populations.