Echinocactus platyacanthus is a slowly growing barrel cactus known under popular name visnaga, it is usually solitary and grows huge in habitat. It could live more than a hundred years and is easily recognized because of its massive size, by far the largest of all barrel cacti. The stem is grey-blue somewhat tuberculate and nice when small, whilst large plants are heavily ribbed with numerous areoles forming a continuous line. They are day-flowering plants with vivid yellow flowers produced in spring and summer-autumn.